ACT 0: STREET FIGHTER Birth of Shadows
by noctorro
Summary: A story chronicling the life of a Shadowlaw scientist, the corruption of his work that brought about Shadow and Shadow Lady from the Marvel vs. Capcom series, the sadistic Doll program, the rise of Shadowlaw and the demise of a family.
1. Prologue: Beauty of Technology

"Biotechnology is a beautiful thing."

The silence that followed was painful. There was no applause, a few nods of scientific heads here and there, and the shuffling of labcoat fabric rustling against itself. Nothing but the whirring of the slide projector filled the air in the dark room.

Dr. Tai Su Feng stood in front of a small audience of six of his fellow researchers, and one of his supervisors, each one of them wearing a look of uneasiness on their old, pale faces. The doctor's own visage was partially lit up by the projected image of his co-workers cheek cells in a bluish light, somewhat hiding his confused expression as he waited for some kind of pat on the back.

"And thus concludes my presentation," he mumbled, a few seconds later. He cleared his throat, the sound echoing off the plastered walls. After a few more moments of silence, he added, "I thought you would have been more excited about my research."

"I was," the supervisor added reluctantly, "because I could see plenty of opportunity. However, I don't necessarily agree with the direction you're taking in this." He took of his glasses and hooked it to his shirt pocket by an arm.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Dr. Feng said, folding his arms as he looked inquisitively at his superior. "Enhancing human capabilities is what my research has been all about. Think about it – police officers with sharper hearing and eyesight to protect the innocent, firefighters with enough strength to carry more than one person out of a burning building … There are literally no limits to how society could benefit from this technology!"

"We're talking about genetic tampering with LIVE human subjects," the supervisor continued. "The ethical issues with genetic modifications are controversial enough. This …" he waved an outstretched hand towards the projection screen and at the good doctor, "this is just too much!"

"Will you at least consider the proposal for a branch dedicated to my research? Given enough time to explore the potential of my work, the opinions of the public and the government are sure to …"

"I'm sorry, Dr. Feng," he interrupted apologetically, "I will not. I know what the government will say about this, what they will say about us, and I do not want to destroy our firm. I don't want to destroy you, Doctor."

Dr. Feng stood there, absolutely appalled that he had just been rejected by Dr. Li, the most respected scientist in the firm, his very own supervisor. He was certain that Li and his colleagues would be applauding by the end of his presentation, all concocted to hopefully open up a branch in the firm for his biotechnology research – but they were going to shut him down. No, they were doing it right now.

"I don't understand how you could throw away an opportunity like this," Dr. Feng said in disbelief, staring at his well polished shoes as they glowed faintly under the light of the projector. "You said you could see potential in my work. If this is not it, then what did you have in mind?"

"I was under the impression that you were going to use this technology to help the sick," Dr. Li said. "I came in here expecting to find potential for cancer treatments and whatnot. Instead, I find you looking for ways to turn the healthy into the super-human. That is not where we need to be investing our limited funds!"

"But …"

"This discussion is over, Dr. Feng. You are a talented scientist, no doubt about it. I just wish your sense of judgment was just as developed. Good day, Doctor."

Dr. Li scooped up his pen and his notes, tucking them comfortably into a little folder he carried with him and led the way out of the room, the other scientists filing out of the room in succession. Dr. Feng remained rooted to the spot, unable to comprehend what had just happened to him. Less than an our ago, as he was preparing to brief his co-workers on his research, he was elated, he was on cloud nine. Never could he have predicted just how low he would sink in a matter or hours. All the days and weekends he put into his research had to be scrapped. All of that for nothing.

XXXXX

Sweeping away long, silky black strands of hair from her eyes, Shao Mei gazed at the little bundle of joy lying in her arms. The baby was a spitting image of his father – except that he had no hair yet. Round eyes looked up curiously at her own, while the infant's chubby arms and legs moved about arbitrarily. She stuck her tongue out at the baby and wiggled it in the air, the child laughing in amusement, establishing the gentle atmosphere of the room with its delighted coos.

Shao Mei recited a traditional Chinese nursery rhyme, something about an old lady sitting on a bus, paying the driver one dollar instead of the requested five cents. She doubted her infant son could understand, but he would learn to speak within a few years. She looked forward to that time, to the time she could finally exchange thoughts with her child, so she could understand exactly what he was thinking.

Little Kenneth was a well behaved baby during the day, but he was a little trouble maker at night, waking her up at unearthly hours of the night with his screaming. She hadn't gotten much sleep since he was born just a few months ago, and she hoped he would pass that stage soon.

Shao Mei glanced at the grandfather clock that stood like an ogre in the corner of their small living room. It was five-thirty in the evening and Tai would be coming home soon. Her heartbeat increased at the thought, excited to hear how her husband's day at work had been. He'd been talking about his research excitedly since before Kenny had even been conceived, showing her every little bit of progress he'd made, though she didn't care about it much. Tai was a good man who only wanted to better the world for her and their family. Such compassion for his work, such love for her … it wasn't much of surprise that she agreed to marry him. She couldn't believe such passion and intensity could be packed into such a little man.

They both stood at about 5'5" with jet black hair. He liked to keep his short and cut close to his head. It didn't get in the way of dangerous lab chemicals and he wouldn't have to worry about dirt and grime collecting in it. To Mei, Tai looked like the biggest dork she'd ever seen with his thick rimmed glasses, but the more she got to know him, the more she began to see past that. She began to see who he was and what he stood for.

"I'm home," a voice called out from the main door. Mei excitedly propped Kenny up into a sitting position on the sofa and leapt to her feet, running down the stairs adjacent to the living room where she sat and wrapped her arms around her husband's shoulders, placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Tell me all about it," she said excitedly. But Tai's answer wasn't one she was waiting for. His posture had already told her something was wrong as he stood hunched over, his eyes never leaving the ground – the complete opposite of how he walked as he left the house earlier that day.

"It's a no go," he said.

Mei felt her mouth gape open. "Excuse me?"

"It's not ethical, or so Li says," Tai explained. "Whatever, I just don't want to talk about it right now."

"And you just went along with it?" Mei asked.

"I tried to explain it to him, dear," Tai insisted, "more than once! But he never wavered. And Li dared to tell me my sense of judgment needed some development. If anything, my judgment is better than his!"

"Well, I suppose it could've been worse," she said, rubbing his shoulder gently. "They could've fired you for investing in something they didn't approve of."

"They only want to keep me because I'm good at what I do. But from now on, they just want me working on teams. No more spearheading my own projects. They trust my ability, Mei, but they don't trust ME." He took Mei's porcelain hands into his and looked straight into her eyes.

"Please don't look at me like that," she said, tearing their gaze. "I never like what you say after you give me that look."

"I'm leaving the firm," Tai announced. Mei clasped a hand over her eyes knowing that she would soon cry against her will. "I can't work in an environment like that. Not only are they incapable of comprehending my vision, but what's even worse, they don't trust me as a person."

"How are we going to support ourselves?" Mei asked, demanding an immediate answer. "I don't go back to work for another year. How are we going to get the money we need?"

"Doesn't the office pay you for maternity leave?"

"It's not enough to sustain us," she said. "Please, don't do this. If you want to leave then at least wait till you've secured another position with another scientific firm."

"Absolutely," Tai agreed, "do you think I made this decision in a second? I've thought about it."

"You could still be a little hurt by their reaction to your work," Mei suggested.

"Nah," Tai said, waving his hand at her. "I'm happy if anything."

"Oh?"

"Absolutely. I've been hearing news about the progress of one of our rivals recently," Tai explained. "They're a pretty young company and are well beneath us in expertise, but they're progressing rapidly. And I think with my help, they'll be above my current firm in no time! Besides, they're not as bound by ridiculous moral 'codes' like Dr. Li and his cronies are, and I really think I could make my mark with them."

"Oh really?" Mei asked. "And who might this mysterious gift from scientific heaven be?"

"Funny you should ask," Tai continued, wanting to keep his wife in suspense for a little longer. "I just had a little phone conversation with a man by the name of … M. Bison, I think he called himself. It's a strange codename, I know, but he seemed pretty interested in my accomplishments."

"It took you years to show me what your work was all about. How long was this conversation?"

"I don't know, like five minutes tops. Anyway, I just gave him the jist of what I've been working on and by the tone of his voice, he seemed genuinely interested. I've set up an interview this weekend with his company's scientific branch."

"And the company?" Mei inquired, more intensely the second time around.

A smile spread proudly across Tai's face, even wider than the one he'd left with this morning. "Shadowlaw."


	2. Chapter 1: The Interview

**Kikoken** Actually, I was thinking of painting a completely different picture of Shadowlaw and M. Bison for this story. It takes place alongside Street Fighter 1, before Shadowlaw became a huge organization when the Street Fighter tournaments were hosted by Sagat. So really, Dr. Feng doesn't have any reason to fear them – yet.

**Vammy**This will be a short story. I don't know how many chapters, but long enough to establish that Dr. Feng was a good guy with his own hopes and dreams, his own ups and down, and pretty much his own life long before Kenny even learns how to talk. I've already decided on the ending. Now all I have to do is work my way there. And don't worry, the next Act 6 chapter should be out tomorrow or the day after.

**Ominae**As mentioned in my note to Kikoken, Shadowlaw isn't a threat yet. But this story is meant to show how they got to become a huge criminal organization and what part Dr. Feng plays in it. Hope you'll continue to enjoy this story.

XXXXX

Tai was marginally impressed with the Shadowlaw head offices. It turned out his interview was to be held in a run down warehouse building that looked like it had either been abandoned years ago, or was just in the process of being remodeled. The floor was made of dirty concrete littered dirt and construction debris. Rusty chains sporting vicious hooks hung from the tin roofing, making it look more like a slaughter house than an actual office building. Had he not known any better, Tai would've thought he was being set up to get mugged.

In the middle of the floor, a few paces away sat an ordinary looking table with a wooden top and steel legs. At opposite sides of the table, a chair was set up, one for him and one for this mysterious M. Bison, or so he guessed. It seemed like he was the only living person in the building right now, but he had no doubts, based on Bison's reaction, that a representative of Shadowlaw would show up.

Tai glanced at his watch. He was on time – 5:00pm sharp. Or perhaps his interviewer was late? He grasped the handle of his suitcase a little tighter, hoping to curb the butterflies in his stomach. It had been awhile since he had to go through the interview process, having had his job for a solid ten years now. He'd almost forgotten the proper etiquette when interacting with a superior. He and his current supervisor, Dr. Li had gotten to be close friends since he started his job, and formalities had been conveniently thrown out the window. But there was little doubt in his mind that he wouldn't get the job, regardless of how he conducted himself.

"Please, have a seat, Doctor," a kind voice offered. Tai looked around for the speaker, spotting a large form step out of the Shadows. It was a tall individual dressed in a scarlet business suit and a black tie. The figure stood tall and had a strong build from what Tai could gather. As it stepped into the light, he saw a man, a few years younger than he was, but definitely more presentable than Tai himself could remember being. He knew he was a little under dressed in his khaki pants and button up shirt.

"Thank you. Mr. Bison, I presume?" Tai asked. The figure nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you in person." He extended a hand.

Bison ignored the handshake and planted himself opposite from Tai. "I'm looking forward having a look at your work, Dr. Feng. Shadowlaw is a very young company and we've been scouting all over the world for scientific talents. Though we have reasonable manpower, we are definitely lacking in the scientific department. We could use someone like you."

"Y…you've heard of me?" Tai stammered.

"You're surprised?" Bison asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Rumors about your work have reached far beyond your native China – in the scientific community at least. I'm not too experienced in that area I'll admit. I'm no scientist. But lately, I find myself delving deeper into the world of biological … stuff … in order to establish a decent scientific branch for Shadowlaw."

Tai found himself stifling a laugh. M. Bison might have gone through some lengths to ensure he appeared cultured and knowledgeable, but it became more apparent to Tai that Bison was a young man barely out of high school at the end of the day, judging by his choice of words and his demeanor.

He'd heard of Shadowlaw before – a small organization rich enough to support its own military. But he never really knew what the company was all about, and where they fit in the business world. He began to regret never having done enough research on the company before applying for a position with them. Perhaps Mei was right. Maybe Tai was still too hurt by the rejection from his own company to care where he ended up in his next job.

"Then I think you'll be quite interested in the kind of work I have to offer your company," Tai said, resting his briefcase on the table as he unlocked it. "I assume there is a respectable screen here for my presentation?"

"This is a pretty run down building, Doctor," Bison replied. "The walls should do just fine. You'll find an electric outlet somewhere by your feet."

After a few frantic moments of setting up while Bison tapped his foot impatiently on the dirty ground, Tai felt confident that the slide projector had been set up properly. He pulled out a small remote from the briefcase and began the presentation he had recited so many times for Dr. Li. Only this time, he was sure Bison would be more impressed.

XXXXX

"It's so nice to see you after so long, Master Gen," Mei said, after taking a sip from her tea cup. She placed the white ceramic cup onto the coffee table and smiled at the aging man, who returned the expression, unable to say anything while his mouth was full of tea. "I'm sorry Tai couldn't join us this evening," Mei continued. "He's in Tokyo tonight for a job interview."

"That surprises me," Gen said, swallowing a mouthful of tea. "I thought he was happily settled with … that job he's got right now."

"He's a researcher," Mei reminded. "But he's been having some trouble at work lately. More tea?"

"Yes please," Gen said, extending his cup. "I remember how excited he was to get his career started. Why would he decide to leave just like that?"

"It's been ten years, Master Gen."

"My, how time flies. What caused him to change his mind about the work place?"

"Tai's been working hard on a project lately. And we just found out yesterday that they didn't approve of it. But I guess he likes his project more than he does his actual job, and wants to find a firm that will accept his work."

Gen nodded his head in approval as he stroked his white beard. "It's good to see he hasn't lost any of the passion I've grown to know over the years."

"You taught him well, Master Gen."

"Tai will always hold a special place in my heart, as do all my students," Gen said, reminiscing. "He was never a fighter, always backing off as soon as he'd make the first hit in a sparring match. It wasn't so much the martial arts lessons I gave him, rather the philosophical discussions that he showed the most interest in. Funny how such a spiritual boy could've grown into a man of the sciences."

"He still hold's your moral values to heart," Mei explained. "The biotechnology he's been working on is designed to enhance people's abilities like hearing, eyesight, strength and smell."

Gen frowned, looking rather curious. "Tai intends to tweak what God has bestowed upon us?" he asked.

"It's for the benefit of everybody," Mei continued.

"And how does he plan on doing this?"

"I'm not too sure about the details," Mei admitted, "I'm no scientist. But it's got something to do with injecting little robots into the body mixed with a little bit of modified genes that works with the body to enhance it. The only problem is the technology runs out of power and if it dies, the host dies too. That's just theory of course."

"So there is a great risk involved," Gen said, nodding. "I couldn't understand how you could help an organic being by injecting it with foreign material. "Perhaps I'm getting too old to understand all this new age logic."

XXXXX

"I must commend you for your research," Bison said, a wide smile spreading across his narrow face. "Aside from the little power setback of your 'technology', I think it could prove to be quite useful to Shadowlaw."

"Of course, my work on the project has yet to be completed," Tai explained. He didn't want to be dismissed by Bison just because he hadn't yet found a permanent source of power for the technology.

"I am sure," Bison replied. "We can't have any of our subjects dying just because their batteries have died out."

"Absolutely," Tai continued, "and my current firm is pulling the plug on this project if I stay with them."

"It would be a waste, especially with such brilliant work nearing completion." Bison looked at Tai, the older scientist with a childlike expression of excitement on his face. "I am willing to invest in you, Dr. Feng. I believe I just may have what you need to sustain your technology in a host's body – permanently."

"I'd love to hear what you have in mind because I can't figure out a way to permanently charge it."

"It's called the Psycho Drive. The first … THING of its kind. It's a machine that harnesses negative energy, even life forces."

"With all due respects, Mr. Bison, this sounds a lot like science fiction to me," Dr. Feng commented. He suddenly wasn't so sure how organized this Shadowlaw was, especially with one of their higher-ups talking like a complete lunatic right now."

"And I suppose little robots and tampered genes that make a person smarter, faster and stronger, isn't science fiction?"

Bison had a point.

"You begin work next week."

"S...sir, are you hiring me on the spot, right now?" Dr. Feng stammered. He was prepared to wait a few days for an answer, planning to contact Shadowlaw after a week if he hadn't heard from them. But being hired right away wasn't something he'd been expecting.

"That's right, Doctor. We have a lab just outside Tokyo. I will make living arrangements for you. I understand you have a family back in Beijing right now, don't you?"

"Y … yes I do."

"Whether or not you want to bring them is up to you. Return to your family tomorrow, take a few days to discuss it with them. But I want an answer in four days. One way or the other, if you want this job, we need you in Tokyo by next week – that's seven days. Thank you for coming by Doctor. I'm sure you remember the way out."

XXXXX

"It was a pleasure meeting with you, Mei," Master Gen said as he donned his dark blue trench coat. "And congratulations again on the birth of your son. I have no doubt that you and Tai will raise Kenny to be an honorable young man, upholding the traditions that has been passed down your family for so many generations."

Mei smiled, "you mean, Kenny will uphold the traditions and beliefs you instilled into Tai. Not that I have any problem with that. Keep warm, Master Gen. It's a cold night tonight. I'll be sure to tell Tai you stopped by."

Gen stepped out the door with Mei closing it gently behind him. As she turned the lock, she couldn't help but smile again. It certainly was a pleasure seeing Master Gen. Mei had met Tai when he was training under Master Gen. The older man always struck her as being kind, wise and awe-inspiring. She could sense incredible raw power beneath his fragile exterior, even up to now, ten years later. Mei had eventually begun to unofficially adopt Master Gen as a father figure as she spent more and more time with Tai. It was wonderful to get his blessings after he learned of their plans to get married.

Ten years after the marriage, the couple now had a three month old son – a little later than both Mei's parents and Tai's were expecting, and they certainly made their opinions loud and clear. Master Gen was the only one who didn't speak up, telling them that the child would come when they were ready, and even then, only if the couple would approach him.

Mei's reminiscing was interrupted by the phone ringing. She quickly dashed to answer it before it would ring another time. But it was too late. A high pitched, painful wail came from the upstairs nursery and was probably bound to continue all night. She cursed the caller. Who even called people this late at night, anyway?

"Hello, could you please hold on a sec?" Mei asked without even pausing to find out who the caller was. She dashed up the stairs, her pulse racing from the sudden cardio workout and scooped Kenny from his crib, cradling him in her arms. Holding him, Mei returned to the phone ready to give the caller a piece of her mind. Now she was guaranteed a horrible night's sleep.

"What is it?" she asked in an all business manner.

"Dear, it's me!" Tai said excitedly from the other end.

"Hun, of all the people to call at this time of the night, I expected you to be the last one!" Mei scolded. "You woke up Kenny with the phone ringing and now he's never going to let me sleep!"

"Look, I'm sorry, I really am," Tai said, "but I just couldn't wait to tell you."

"You got the job?"

"I got the damn job!" he cried in elation. "Shadowlaw isn't just hiring me, but they've decided to fund my project too!"

"Oh my gosh, that's terrific," Mei whispered quietly as she tried putting her infant back to sleep, rocking her body gently.

"There's a catch though," Tai said. He cleared is throat and Mei could just imagine him giving her that look again, across the Sea of Japan or not. "I have to relocate to Tokyo."

"WHAT!" Mei cried in surprise.

"WAAAAH!" Kenny burst out crying again.

"Ouch, Mei, that wailing's hurting me over here. Put him back in the crib."

"Baby, I am not moving to Tokyo! What about my job here in Shanghai? We have a home here, we have an entire extended family over here. And don't think for a second that your family nor mine will let us leave without a fight. Did I forget to mention we don't speak a word of Japanese!"

"Look, I know it's a little sudden right now, and even a little late. Don't think about it yet. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon when I get home. Sleep on it."

"That won't be happening thanks to you."


	3. Chapter 2: A New Tournament

**Vammy** I'm trying to characterize Bison as a younger, more inexperienced man while trying not to lose his sinister aura. It's no easy task. The only harder thing about this story is trying to explain how the original model of the Shadow Technology works. Scientifically I'm sure it'll fall flat on its ass but hey, this is a fanfic for crying out loud.

**Jami** It's a pleasure to hear from you! I haven't spoken to you in a long time – despite us talking on the same forum and the whole bit. Thanks for giving this story a chance. Although, I don't blame you for not reading Act 6 – its rather twisted involving 4 original characters – and I said I wouldn't have anymore than 1 in my stories. That went to hell pretty quickly. But this Act 0 will be simple and straightforward without too many confusing elements. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this.

**Ominae** Yep, Kenny grows up in Japan though he's a Chinese born citizen. As this story carries on, you'll get more insight into how he becomes who he is by the time Act 6 rolls around.

**Kikoken** In intended for this to be a short story. But the way the ideas are just flying out of my head, it will be longer than just a couple of chapters. The new chapters will keep coming regularly until I run out of ideas. But since I just got the Street Fighter 15th anniversary art collection book, I don't think I'll be out of ideas for awhile!

XXXXX

"I'm sorry to see you go."

"It wasn't an easy decision," Mei replied, looking down at her folded hands. She didn't want to put them on the polished wooden desk. She had a habit of leaning her weight against her arms, causing the edges to dig into her delicate skin, so keeping them folded on her lab was a suitable alternative. "I know it must come  
at a bad time, with me being on maternity leave and all ..." "We do what we have to do," the suited man replied, running a hand across his slicked black hair. "Alot of students have grown attached to you during your time spent at this school."

"I'm convinced that our students are the best in the district.  
That's what makes it so much harder to leave. But my husband's  
secured a job overseas in Japan - a very promising job for him and  
his career."

"You're a good wife to be supporting him in whatever he does."

"Thank you, Mr. Tsu."

"Meanwhile, I have a pair of students eager to say goodbye to you today." Mei had a good idea of who these students were. Mr. Tsu rose from his desk and headed over to his office door and opened it, revealing  
the twin forms of two high school girls, both with jet black hair, dressed in conservative dress shirts and black knee length skirts. Their faces were identical but it was their hairstyles that fellow students and teachers went by to tell them apart. Yanyu, the girl on the left, wore hers in two buns at the sides of her head with a French braid dangling from each one. Xiayu, on the right, tied hers back into a ponytail, leaving a lock of soft hair hanging down one side of her face.

"We're going to miss you, Mrs. Feng," Yanyu said, giving Mei a tight hug.

"I want you girls to continue studying hard while I'm gone," Mei replied. "I know you have what it takes to build yourselves a bright future. And when times get tough, I know you can always count on each other."

"We made a goodbye card for you," Xiayu said, handing over an unevenly folded card made of hand-made paper. The crumpled texture of the material eliminated any need for decoration. "I wouldn't say  
we're designers ..."

"I love it," Mei said, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Well then," Mr. Tsu said, "you girls better be heading back to class."

"Yes Mr. Tsu," the girls acknowledged in unison, bowing their heads slightly in respect to their authority figure.

"We're all going to miss you, Mei." 

XXXXX

"Should I bring this shirt with me, Mei?" Tai held up a once-proud dress shirt, now stained pink from him doing his own laundry.

"It's quite becoming on you, dear," she joked.

Tai threw it in a pile of clothes, joining a dirty baseball cap, torn socks, a smudgy pair of glasses and stained shorts, among other out of fashion apparel. "If you like it, I know what to do with it." He smirked at her.

"Do not make judgement calls on my taste in clothing, Tai Su." He cringed. Tai never liked her calling him by his full name. "For all you know, it was my dressing you that got you with this current firm in the first place."

"And what a fat lotta good that did me."

"Baby, do you think we should bring all of Kenny's bottles?"

"The kid can't tell the difference between them," he said, dismissing Mei's suggestion. "Just take one. I don't wanna bring more than we can handle. And what's this?" He held up a crumpled  
card in one hand and threw it in the junk pile.

"No, I want to keep that," Mei said, fishing it out. "The girls gave them to me."

"Are you talking about those annoying twins?" Tai asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He remembered Xiayu and Yanyu when he visited his wife at work one day, clinging by their teacher's side like there was no tomorrow. "Why would you want something like that from a pair of brown-nosers?" 

"They're very dedicated students," Mei replied, "You just don't understand. Imagine what people could've been saying about you in high school."

"Well you never cared," Tai said, shrugging, "and you married me. So you're stuck with me and I'm glad you are."

"Exactly! So you shouldn't be saying anything derogatory about Xiayu and Yanyu without knowing them."

"Well, I never cared what people said about me, and neither should they. I was just making an observation."

"Then let me keep the card, dear."

XXXXX

"This is better than anything I could've hoped for," Bison said to himself as he leafed through the documents regarding Dr. Feng's research. Aside from the need for a permanent power source for his  
work, the only problem was that the organic make up of his biotechnology didn't quite fit with the Psycho Drive. From what Bison understood from Dr. Feng's presentation, a host's body could be enhanced to super human levels with a combination of electronic pulses combined with genetically tampered DNA strands injected into the body directly.

The problem was that the Psycho Drived worked in a similar manner, and Bison didn't want to take the risk combining the Drive's enhancement abilities with that of Dr. Feng's work. The two technologies weren't meant to work with each other, and putting a host through both treatments would result in a clash of two forces working in the same body. And the results would be unpredictable.

The only way for the biotechnology and the Psycho Drive to work in harmony would be if Dr. Feng eliminated the organic elements to his work and used the pure technological side for enhancements, while  
the Psycho Drive powered the technology and enhanced the host from an organic aspect. Bison decided that it would be best to approach the doctor once he was comfortably settled into the company.

XXXXX

"My God," Mei said, clutching a pamphlet in her hands in excitement,

"I don't believe this!"

"What's going on?" Tai asked, running to her side from the kitchen as he prepared some milk for their child.

"Master Gen is participating in the first ever Street Fighter tournament!" She held up the sheet for her husband to view.

"What!" Tai peered at the paper through his glasses. "Isn't he a little too old for this!"

"You weren't here when he stopped by," Mei said. "He may be old, but he's still got some vigor in that old frame of his. I could sense it."

"I haven't seen my master in ... years," Tai said, counting the time on his fingertips. "And of all the days he chooses to stop by, I have to be overseas for a job interview."

"He's proud of you nonetheless," Mei explained, rubbing his arm gently. But that was only the half truth. She didn't want to explain that Master Gen thought Tai's work was immoral, tampering with living beings. Being an old man, she could see why he would think that, and why he couldn't understand that technology was the gateway to tomorrow. Traditional Chinese philosophy, she supposed.

"How's his new student coming along?" Tai asked. "What was her name ... Chun Li, I think he told me once."

"I don't know, he doesn't usually discuss his student's progress with other people - regardless of who he's talking to. It's a matter of privacy. You should know that."

"Well, I hope the poor girl lasts through Master Gen's training. He may be calm and collected, but he could make a drill sergeant sweat as far as I'm concerned. And to hear he'll be participating in a martial arts tournament! I thought his fighting days were over. What does the competition look like?"

"Let's see," she said flipping through the pamphlet. "Looks like there will be fighters from all over the world. Ooh, get a load of this guy - Sagat. Says here that he's the King of Muay Thai, a kickboxing martial art developed in Thailand." 

"Creepy looking guy, I'll say," Tai said, peering at the profile picture of a bald man with a pirate patch over his right eye. "Wonder what happened to him?"

"Beats me. This tournament is supposedly the most intense ever held in street fighting history. The only rules are the prohibition of firearms and the killing of opponents in the arena. But the tournament is not liable if the fighter dies of complications from the attacks after the match is over."

"Wow," Tai said, scratching his head. "I know Master Gen's good and all, but if he's going up against top fighters from all over the world, there's a good chance some of them will be more skilled than he is, younger, and therefore stronger ... I don't know, Mei. Why didn't you try and talk him out of it?"

"He didn't tell me anything!" she insisted. "I just found out about his involvement right now!"

"But why would he ..."

"WAAAAAHH!" Kenny wailed from the nursery upstairs.

"Oh God, Mei, that kid's gonna end up killing me one day!" Tai cried as he ran back to the kitchen to fetch the milk from the microwave.

"That's the deal we had," she reminded him, "you take care of Kenny while you're home. When you're at work, I take care of him."

"What about when you get off maternity leave?"

"I've left the high school already. Didn't I tell you? Once we get to Japan, I'll take care of the baby until we can find an appropriate nursery. Now, how we're going to do that, I have no idea. I don't speak Japanese. I would've rather gone to the United States. At least I can put some of my English to good use."

"What are you gonna do? Tell everyone your name five hundred times? That's all you know how to say!"  
"It's more than what you could do."  
"Excuse me, but I happen to be a scientist, a profession which requires knowledge in various languages ..."  
"And you could recite the various austrolopithecus species five hundred times. At least the Americans will understand what I'M saying ..."  
"WAAAAHHH!" The wailing continued.  
"Alright, alright," Tai said, throwing his hands up in the air. "I'm coming!"

XXXXX

"I wish we didn't have to see Mrs. Feng go," Yanyu said to her sister on their way home from school. The sisters walked closely side by side, something they'd always done since they were children. They had eventually grown out of constantly relying on each other, and being each other's best friends, but this was a childhood habit that had stuck. It had little to do with the cars speeding by on the busy and narrow Beijing streets. The pair was able to keep their formation steady as they simultaneously dodged people and cyclists. If anything, concentration of the people on the streets was far greater than the cars on the roads just a few feet away.

"She really helped us learn alot," Xiayu agreed. "But at least she's bettering her life somewhere else."

"Oh please, in Japan of all places. I think I'd die if I ended up eating fish all day."

"Raw fish, nonetheless."

"Eeeeeww," the girls made faces, covering their mouths and giggling together.

"Aw, come now, you can't mean what you're saying." The twins looked up in surprise at a towering figure dressed in a black suit despite the surprisingly warm weather this afternoon. It was a man, judging from the tone of voice and broad build. A brimmed hat covered his facial features as he spoke to the girls, adding towards an aura of mystery and perhaps danger.

"S...sorry," Yanyu said, trembling in fear. "We didn't mean for anyone else to hear us."

"That's okay," the suited man replied in a tone of mock-sympathy. "How about I take you there? I'm sure you will grow to love the place."

"This guy's creeping me out," Xiayu whispered to her sister.

"Sorry, we're not interested. Excuse us, but we really have to get going home now." the girls tried pushing their way past the intimidating figure, but he held out an arm stopping them dead in their tracks.   
"I'm sorry, but you don't have a choice." He smiled, revealing a set of glistening white teeth, visible even from underneath the shadow of his hat. He scooped up Xiayu in one arm who screamed in alarm, yet nobody paused to interfere, afraid for their lives if they were to be arrested for public misconduct in such a communist regime.

"Let her go!" Yanyu ordered, tugging at the man's arm that held her sister. but he easily plucked her up with his other hand and carried the girls away, both of whom were now crying in fear, kicking and screaming in vain.

He took the pair of them a few steps down the street where a black limousine waited patiently. A well dressed butler stood by the back door of the vehicle and opened it with a gloved hand as the stranger tossed the girls inside, slamming the door shut behind them.  
As he headed to the front of the car, he fished out a cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open. "Master Bison, the targets have been acquired."

"Excellent," a cool voice said from the other end. "Two down, ten to go."


	4. Chapter 3: Terrifying Find

Tai stared around in amazement as he took in his surroundings – his fully equipped lab at Shadowlaw headquarters. Despite having been employed and working here for the past few months, he was still impressed with his office, never having the same kind of facility as he did was with the old firm in Beijing. The walls were painted white, the tables nice and metallic. There was a computer, printer, scanner and fax machine set up in a cozy working desk tucked into the far corner of the room. A partition traveling width-wise across the room divided it into two sections, one for paper work and the other for experiments. He headed over to his equipment right away, his eyes devouring the sigh of rows upon rows of clean new beakers, test tubes, Bunsen burners, eyedroppers … everything he needed was here. He was like a kid being introduced to his new room stocked full of the latest state of the art toys. And to think that all of this was his and his only to use!

For a young, upstart company, Bison or whoever ran this joint seemed pretty well off, investing a nice sum of money to build this base right into the mountainside of Mt. Fuji. As he was being introduced to the establishment, Tai had been sworn never to reveal the location of the base, not even to his family. He thought it was a little odd given the location of the base but he supposed private enterprises deserved their privacy too.

Tai headed over to his desk and set his briefcase upon the finish while turning the computer on with a click of the button on the tower. He extracted multiple storage disks from his briefcase, all to be uploaded onto the hard drive of his new personal computer. He had been at the base for a little over two hours now, the tour and introduction to the facilities having taking about ninety minutes, and another half hour for him to find his way back to his office. Considering their lunch break wasn't till another three hours, he wanted to get started on his project right away – oddly enough, that's what Bison asked him to do. There were no other experiments that needed his expertise or his tending to. "Just work on your project and I would like to meet with you when this tour is over, back at your lab."

Right … Bison was on his way here. Tai instinctively looked around to tidy the place before his boss's arrival, but having just entered the establishment for the first time, there was nothing to make presentable. And where was Bison anyway? Tai hadn't known him for very long, but he could already tell it was unlike the man to be late for a meeting … unless Tai had taken too long in returning to his station that the boss just grew fed up and left. What a great way to make a first impression! But it wasn't his fault the base was so damn big!

He waited anxiously at his work desk, continuing to upload his data files while he did so. Tai couldn't afford to make any bad impressions on Shadowlaw. Sure, the boss was interested in his work and hired him for his progress, but he didn't want the company to like him solely based on his personal project and not any of his other capabilities. He wanted to prove himself as a scientist to them.

The metal sliding doors that led to his lab opened with a quiet mechanical whirr, catching Tai's attention. Bison, dressed traditionally in his maroon suit and black tie stepped in, flanked by a rather effeminate looking bodyguard, dressed in a similar business suit, only it was black. He had long flowing blonde hair, almost as soft as Mei's that reached down to his shoulders. His face looked like that of a porcelain doll, delicate features and flowing eyelashes. The only thing that gave away this man's masculinity was a strong, developed neck.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I, Doctor?" Bison asked from the doorway.

"Absolutely not," Tai replied. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes," Bison said.

"Please, have a seat."

"I'd like to introduce you to one of my security guards," Bison said, motioning to his companion. "This is Vega de la Cerna, one of Spain's finest matadors and a top notch martial artist." Vega bowed politely as he was being introduced. Bison continued. "We here at Shadowlaw hire only the very best. Our personnel are the cream of the crop in their respective departments. It should not come as a surprise to you that I expect a lot out of you, Doctor."

"I won't let you down, sir."

"After reviewing the notes on your project that you gave me during our initial interview, I still have no doubt that your work will be nothing short of spectacular. But after consulting the other scientists in your department, I'm getting a little skeptical about our plans for your project."

"I … I don't understand."

"One serious shortcoming is an energy source for the technology. And to provide a permanent source of energy, we will have to connect it to the Psycho Drive. The problem is, the Psycho Drive already has the ability to enhance subject in an organic manner. But this is an unstable process. What I want is the ability to monitor a subject's growth and strength levels by technological means. And that's where your work comes in."

"But there are also biological enhancing elements to my project as well," Tai explained. "Combining that ability with one of a similar kind as present in the Psycho Drive would yield unpredictable results."

Bison smiled. "My thoughts, exactly. So what I want you to do is eliminate the biological aspect of your work so that it becomes purely technological. I want you to create a technology that aids in and controls the enhancement of subjects. Are you able to do that?"

"Piece of cake," Tai smirked confidently. "But I'll need to understand how the Psycho Drive works in order to tweak the technology to make it compatible."

Bison and Vega exchanged worried glances. A silent conversation was exchanged between the both of them for a brief moment. Bison turned back to Tai and smiled. "The Psycho Drive is a top secret project we've been experimenting with. Not even our most respected scientists have even stood in front of the Drive itself."

"I'm sorry," Tai said, "I didn't mean to be so bold."

"But you have good reason to be," Bison said, putting his hand on Tai's shoulder. "Because you haven't the slightest clue how much I expect from you. Please come with us. The Psycho Drive awaits."

"I'm glad you trust me with this," Tai said, as they headed out of the lab.

"Only because I want to," Bison replied. "The Shadow Technology will be the new base upon which our organization's technological advancements will be built. I can see it now."

"The Shadow Technology?" Tai asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"You're good at what you do, Dr. Feng, but you seem too passionate about this project to have even properly named it. There was nothing in your notes indicating the title of your work."

"Oh …" Tai rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Bison was right. He wasn't too sure what he called it himself, whenever talking about it with Mei. But the "Shadow Technology", huh? It sounded a little … a bit evil to Tai, with connotations that he would rather have not associated with anything he worked on.

"You don't like the name?" Bison inquired curiously.

"Oh, no, sir," Tai lied. "The Shadow Technology … I like it …"

**XXXXX**

Mei sat on the veranda of their home, a quaint little house built in the traditional Japanese style, situated in the outskirts of Osaka City. She was surprised Tai was still willing to take the job, even after discovering that the home purchased for them by Shadowlaw was this much of a distance from his work place. Tai worked the regular 9-5 shift, but she doubted he'd be back on time, understanding what his job meant to him. But the fact that he had to commute regularly to the Kansai airport for a private plane that would fly him down to his workplace … did it have to be so inconvenient?

Mei shrugged. "At least I'm not the one having to do it," she said to herself. Mei turned her attention to Kenny, her little bundle of joy sitting contentedly on her lap, gazing out at the street beyond their property with intense curiosity. He seemed to examine every car that went by, smiling delightedly at the sight of such speedy inventions.

A little European boy, around nine or ten years old was running down the streets. Mei could hear his voice from a distance as it gradually grew louder as he approached. She didn't recognize the song he was singing. He paused at their gate and noticed her staring curiously at him. The boy was skinny, had light colored skin contrasted by a head of fiery red hair and just a few freckled on his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, are you the new neighbor?" he asked her in English. Mei's heart leapt into her throat. She'd taken night courses in English to upgrade her skills at her old job back at the high school in China. But then Kenny was born and she had to put her plans on hold. She smiled at the boy who looked at her with such interest from the gate and walked up to him with Kenny in her arms. She wanted to talk with this interesting, outspoken boy but didn't want anyone else to hear her broken English.

"Yes, we just moved here a few months ago," Mei replied with a heavy accent.

"You guys wanted to come to Japan too, huh?" the boy asked.

"It's very nice here," Mei said. At this point, keeping her sentence structure simple and short took priority over telling the complicated truth.

"My parents wanted to move here too," the boy explained.

"Do they like it?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. I don't have any parents."

"But didn't you say …" Mei was getting confused.

"Well people say I don't look like everyone else. So that must mean my parents came from somewhere else."

No … Mei felt sorry for the boy, having been told he was different at such a young age. Children should have to learn these differences through education, learn why people look different and the variety of cultures in the world – not through crude street culture.

"My name is Mei," she said, introducing herself. "What's yours?"

"I'm Craig," the boy replied. "Nice to meet ya!" They shared a handshake between the bars of the gate.

"Where do you live?" Mei asked. If he didn't have any parents, she wanted to know who was looking out for this boy.

"Oh, I have my own house. It's not big, but I feel safe there." Mei could tell he was uncomfortable discussing the topic when he suddenly changed the subject. "That's a cute baby," he said, pointing at Kenny. Can I pet him?"

"Uh … sure," Mei replied, feeling slightly offended that he was referring to her child as if he were some kind of baby animal. Craig reached for Kenny and stroked the side of his face gently.

"Wow, he feels soft," he commented. Kenny took Craig's index finger in his small hands and stared at it curiously for a second. After he was done looking, he bit down on the finger with surprising speed for a baby.

"Hey, stop that, Kenny!" Mei ordered, trying to free the boy's finger from her son's mouth.

But Craig was giggling in delight. "It's okay, Mei. It doesn't hurt!"

Mei pulled Kenny away, holding him a safe distance from the boy. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "He doesn't mean any harm … don't you, Kenny?"

"Nah, I'm okay!" Craig declared proudly. "I have to get going. It was nice meeting you!" He started running off.

"Come back any time!" she said, as he disappeared gradually into the distance.

XXXXX

It was time to go home, finally. Tai glanced at his watch, only just noticing he had stayed after work for more than just the "few hours" he told Mei he'd be. Working in the underground lab, it was impossible to see outside, but his internal clock told him the sun had set long ago. And if it didn't, his watch certainly did a good job. Quarter past ten at night and his checkup call with Mei had been made five hours ago. He couldn't help his dedication to his work – it was a passion, and it didn't even feel like he'd stayed for that long. Tai was working his dream job and he knew it – and to think that it couldn't have gotten better at the old firm. Well, it did with Shadowlaw. True, the name of this new company gave him the creeps when he first heard it, but upon hearing how they were willing to invest with him, that was enough to turn off any doubts in his mind. At last, a company that shared the same passion for bio-technological science as he did!

Tai finished tidying up the office, stuffing discs of data files into his briefcase. He closed it shut and headed towards the door of the lab, making sure to shut off the lights has he heading out of the automatic sliding doors. Outside, he swiped his keycard into a slot just beside the knob and punched out, the electronic device locking the contraption shut until the next morning.

The halls of the facility were dark, almost eerie especially with no other human contacts. This would take a little getting used to, as they were filled with movement even after hours. But this late at night? Tai couldn't remember the last time he'd spent this long at work and loving it. But now he wasn't so sure he should've stayed. That was just his animal instinct kicking in.

"Come on, buddy," he told himself, "a grown man with a family and we're still afraid of the dark?" He continued walking down the halls towards the exit where he could meet the last flight out for the night. He lived far enough away to have to take a plane to work – and that was proof of the monetary power Shadowlaw had. Sure, he loved what he did, but if he climbed up high enough in the company, there would be no limits to the kind of life he'd be able to provide for Mei and Kenny. Tai whistled an elated tune to keep his sanity in the strangely dark and empty corridors.

A distant cry caught his attention, sending cold chills up his spine. He stopped dead in his tracks, his ears pricked up, higher than the hairs on the back of his neck. It was a cry made more out of sheer terror than desperation – the kind you hear in horror movies. Had Tai simply imagined it from his overactive imagination? No, that couldn't be it. He never had an imagination for as long as he could remember. There was definitely someone in trouble in the lab. Perhaps a co-worker had accidentally come into contact with some dangerous chemicals? No … the scream was more out of fear than anything else. His curiosity getting the better of him, Tai spun around on his heels and headed deeper into the facility, unsure of where to go.

He jogged down the twisting corridors, confident that he'd remember the way out when he tried to leave. And if he didn't, that wasn't important to him right now. He wanted to find whoever made that scream. But the deeper he got into the facility, the more faded his hopes got. He wasn't going to find whoever was in trouble if they didn't scream again …

"AAAAAHHH!"

"Somebody need help?" he called back. Tai was close, definitely close. There was no response to his inquiry, even after a few seconds that seemed like an eternity. His eyes darted around desperate to spot some sign of movement, anything that would give him some sort of a lead. There was nothing. He had no idea where to go.

Only then did Tai get a good look at his surroundings. It looked as if he had left the facility for another building. The Shadowlaw laboratories had sterile walls and floors, everything in a white or a pale shade of gray. Now it looked as if he was viewing the interior of some alien spaceship. The walls were metallic, with elaborate pipes and wires snaking around in some random pattern. The flooring consisted of thick metal grating, lit from underneath by a strange, radioactive looking light. There were no corridors here, just one giant room with rows upon rows of human-sized tubes filled with a liquid glowing pale blue. The hum of machinery could be heard in the distance, though given the sheer size of the room, it was difficult to tell where it was coming from. The giant tubes were lined up in units of ten, grouped together by aluminum coated clasps that prevented them from touching each other, holding them in place. Tai walked up and down the aisles of tubes, looked into every single one as if hypnotized by their glow. He almost forgot the fact that he was looking for someone who might be in serious danger – but the person hadn't screamed since he entered the room.

Tai's walk led him to the edge of the room, where he noticed the perimeter lined with what looked like prison cell doors built right into the metal. Why in the world would there be prison cells in a science facility? Unless Shadowlaw was more than just a scientific firm … Tai suddenly realized that he should've done more research on the company instead of hopping on board just because they showed a willingness to support his work.

He walked along the rows of cell doors, careful not to look inside in case something unexpectedly humped out at him. Tai had to admit he'd watched one too many horror movies as a kid and if he did have any sense of imagination, it would've been spawned as result of those terrifying experiences. In order for him to get a good look at the insides of the cells, he'd have to press his face up against tiny viewing window about the size of a size ten envelope. And he wasn't about to do something like that, especially not at this time of the night, at an underground base no less.

Just as he walked by what seemed like a random door, a bloodied figure slammed up against the window. Tai was never athletic, but he'd never jumped so high in his life. He let out a startled, terrified scream and nearly landed on his rear as his feet came back into contact with the floor. It was a girl, a young girl no older than fifteen or sixteen. Her black hair was disheveled, falling in sweaty strands over her greasy, bloody face.

She cried in horror, pounding at the door in desperation. "Jiu Ming!" she cried, utterly horrified. "Qing ni ba wo fang kai!"

Chinese … she was speaking Chinese – or Mandarin, more specifically … Tai couldn't believe it. He had almost forgotten the sound of his native language. It had been a few months since he and Mei made the move, but they were slowly incorporating the local Japanese dialect into their everyday speech. The poor girl was begging to be released.

It took Tai a second to calm his rattled nerves as he stared in surprise and confusion at the girl trapped in the cell. "Hold on," he said, replying in Mandarin. "W…what are you doing here? How did you get in there?"

"I want to go home!" the girl cried. She seemed to have calmed down a little, no longer in complete hysteria, but certainly on the edge of it.

"Where do you live?" Tai asked.

"Beijing. But I haven't been home in … God, I've forgotten how long. It's horrible here. Please let me out. I don't care if I don't get home, just get me out of here. Please!"

Beijing … this was from the same city Tai came from. But how did she get here? Well there would be time to answer that later. For the time being, what was important was letting the poor girl out from the cell. He noticed a card reader beside the cell door. He swiped it, causing a red light to flash from behind the reader. That was odd. The lights usually flashed green. It made sense to him though. He was no longer in his department … wherever this place was.

"I … I can't seem to get this thing open," he informed her regretfully. Tai grasped the door handles and pulled. But the metal slab of a door wouldn't budge.

"Oh no … I'm going to die in here," the girl sobbed.

"H…hold on, don't say that. I doubt you're going to be killed. Have you committed some kind of a crime?" Tai remember Bison remember saying something about a military that Shadowlaw owned. Perhaps they were somehow responsible for keeping order in the city? Was this girl some kind of street child? But she was Chinese … it didn't make sense that she would be a street child in a Japanese city.

"I was walking home from school when they took me and my sister. I haven't seen her since we got here. I hope she's alright, but everyday I hear these horrible screams. They're too terrified, to panicked to tell whose they are. But I fear they might be hers …"

"And they just left you in here?" Cold sweat was beginning to break out on Tai's forehead. Just who was he working for, exactly? Why in the world would a rich, powerful company bother capturing pre-pubescent girls? Was there some kind of child-sex trade going on here that he didn't know about? All of a sudden, the name Shadowlaw was making more and more sense to him. "What have they done to you? Have they touched you in … sensitive areas?"

The girl gulped, swallowing a wad of saliva. "Everyday they hook me up to this huge machine. The machine … it goes into my mind, into my thoughts and … and …" She was starting to break down just by retelling her ordeal.

"You don't have to tell me if it's too painful for you to remember .." Tai said.

"That's the thing," she continued. "I don't remember. Every time they put me back here after they unhook me from the machine, I start to forget things. It becomes harder to remember …"

"Can you tell me your name?" Tai asked. It sounded as if this machine she spoke of had the ability to annihilate memories. But that was purely science fiction. There was no possible way that a machine could cause someone to gradually lose their memories unless it simulated some kind of electric shock that killed that part of the brain. Yet still, the memory loss wouldn't be gradual – it would be sudden. But if the girl could remember her city and her sister, chances were she could still remember her name. At least if Shadowlaw was involved with trafficking children, he could look up the her name on the missing person's list and determine where exactly this young one came from.

The girl nodded and thought for a few seconds. Tai found himself gulping down his own saliva with relative effort in anticipation. "My name," she replied, "is Xiayu."


	5. Chapter 4: Threats

Tai spent the plane ride home in a daze, his hands gripping the armrest of his seat in fear, nervousness, and perhaps even a little guilt after running into Xiayu. Talk about a coincidence. She was the same girl that Mei took under her wing at her old job at the high school. Xiayu was the girl who made up one half of the pair of twins that viciously annoyed Tai after only one meeting with them when he dropped of some lunch for his wife at the school's staff room. The twins were hanging off of Mei like she was their mother, and though Tai would never admit it, the picture bothered him. Was he jealous that she gave them more attention than she'd ever given him? Well that couldn't be his fault – he had a family to look after and three mouths to feed. It wasn't his fault he spent so much time at work.

As much as disliked the twins, he disliked the fact that he had the capacity to be jealous of mere children. Yet, he couldn't feel anything but remorse for Xiayu after finding her tortured, but alive back at the Shadowlaw base. And that really got him thinking. Why in the world would this young upstart company – with deep respect for the sciences no less – be interested in kidnapping teenage girls? Was there something about his employers that he didn't know about? Were they going to be using his work towards their exploitation? Were they going to even BE exploited? And if so, how? Tai couldn't see his project … no, the 'Shadow Technology' doing anything much for the girls that would capture Shadowlaw's interests, except perhaps helping them perform better in school.

Shadowlaw was starting to rub Tai the wrong way. Now he understood how desperate he was, when he hopped onto their bandwagon just because they were interested in his work. But there were greater things at stake for him now other than his work. The life of another human being, a young girl no less - if anything happened to her whether or not he was responsible, Tai knew he wouldn't forgive himself, nor should he ever.

As the taxi pulled into his driveway from the airport, a new realization dawned on him. Mei was in there, probably sleeping by now at this time of the night. She was the stay at home housewife and was probably planning on remaining this way until Kenny would be old enough to be at a daycare. When the kid was sleeping, Mei would probably be wandering around the house, bored to tears, thinking about the life she led before Kenny was born. She really cared about her students, Tai could see it in the way she acted around them with her modest, yet authoritative stance, her gentle tone of voice. How in the world was he going to break the news to Mei that his employers had kidnapped her favorite students and tortured them?

"Five thousand and thirty two yen," the taxi driver announced, snapping Tai out of his daze.

"Er, right," he said, reaching into the pocket for his wallet. It was a good thing Shadowlaw also funded the transportation required to get to and from work. He passed over six thousand yen over to the driver and held his hand up when change was offered, leaving the car as he shoulder his bag and bid the cab a goodnight. Tai headed up the path to the house, up the stairs to the front doors and removed his shoes, simultaneously unlocking the door and stepping in with shoes in hand.

He entered the house, now bathed in complete darkness. Inside, all was silent. Glancing at his watch reading 2:30 am, he realized he'd stayed after work a lot longer than he told Mei he would. He headed silently into the living room as he set his bag down beside the couch and spotted his wife sleeping soundly with her delicate arms crossed elegantly over her lap. Her head was supported by the armrest as her body lay lengthwise along the seat's cushions, one leg propped up and the other touching the flooring. He walked up to her, instantly feeling guilt. She should've been sleeping in the bedroom but had instead chosen to stay up waiting for him to come home and had fallen asleep in the process. Using the back of an index finger, he brushed aside a long silky lock of black hair from her face and caressed her porcelain cheek gently.

"I'm sorry, dear," he whispered, not wanting to wake her up. "But a lot has happened today." He gently slipped his arms under her resting form and lifted her into his arms, carrying her up to the bedroom. Tai walked with soft footsteps, not wanting to wake Kenny up from his slumber in the nursery.

**XXXXX**

"You were late last night," Mei said with a slight tone of anger in her voice. She held a small Chinese teacup in her hands, taking an occasional sip from it without breaking eye contact with her husband who sat across the table looking at her nervously. Tai hated it when she looked at him like that. "Your work can't be more important to you than your family, can it?"

"I … I'm sorry," he apologized. "There was a lot of progress to be made with the Shadow Technology last night."

"The … what?" she asked, eyes widening in surprise.

"Yeah, that's what Bison called it," he replied casually. "It didn't sit right with me at first but then again, if he's paying me for it, he can call it whatever the hell he wants."

"That doesn't sound very …" she looked at the ceiling in thought, the first time this morning she'd broken her intense stare to Tai's relief, "…friendly."

"Tell me about it."

"You were off at five yesterday and you said you'd stay after for a few hours. I didn't expect you to come home in the wee hours of the morning."

"I already explained to you. There's significant revision that needs to be done. The organic component of the technology needs to be removed, to be replaced by the Psycho Drive."

"Psycho drive!" Mei asked in bewilderment. "What's with all these awful names for the kinds of devices Shadowlaw has?"

"What's important is that they work, don't you think?"

But that comment only earned him a strange look, and he suddenly got the feeling she felt distant from him, not knowing why he was talking about these terrible sounding terms in such a nonchalant matter. "To be honest, I've had a bad feeling about this from the start," Mei said. "Right from the beginning, you were so excited to have these people hire you that you didn't even bother doing any research about the company before confirming your acceptance of the job. Now you come home – nine hours after your shift ended – telling me about your 'Shadow Technology' and the 'Psycho Drive' and I'm really getting creeped out by your new employers. And the name Shadowlaw just rubs me the wrong way."

"I …" Tai had to clamp his mouth shut. He loved his work, so much to the point where he was willing to be separated from his family for most of the day just to perfect it. True, Shadowlaw was a creepy company, but he saw them as his chance to get an opportunity to achieve his goal with his project, even with all the strange terms they chose to use. But he also understood that Mei wasn't as passionate about his work as he was, but he had to give her credit for standing by his side and supporting him in whatever he chose to do. However the more he told her about his employers, the more uncomfortable she grew. He wanted to tell her about Xiayu, but that would only cause her to panic – and now was not a great time for that, especially when she was angry at him for coming home late last night.

Deciding to silence himself before his conscience told him to spill the beans to her about her favorite student, Tai picked up a bowl of steaming hot rice sitting in front of him and scooped some into his mouth with a pair of chopsticks. While he chewed, he picked up slices of grilled chicken and steamed vegetables from the various platters scattered in front of him. Mei was a good cook and now more than ever, he relied on the tasty food to keep himself from talking.

"Aren't you having any?" he asked, as little chewed bits flew from his lips.

"You're hiding something from me," she said folding her arms across her chest.

"What are you talking about?" he asked innocently shrugging his shoulders. Suddenly, as if receiving a slap on the back of the head from God himself, Tai's glasses slipped from his nose bridge and clattered to the table. He looked down nervously at them and then back up at Mei, who hadn't moved from her furious composure. Her ruby lips were pressed into a frown, her eyes narrowed. One of her legs was crossed over the other, wagging slightly in midair as she waited impatiently for a response.

"Okay fine," he gave in, running through his mind for any excuse he could think of in the few seconds he had to come up with one. "I'm going into the lab today."

"What!" she nearly screamed. "It's the weekend and they're making you work?"

"It's only going to be for a few hours!" he insisted, relieved with the fact that it had worked. It wasn't exactly a lie. He was actually planning on going in today not to work on the project, but to pay Xiayu and visit, to let her know everything was going to be alright. Tai wasn't thrilled about the idea of telling Mei he had to leave her, even if it was for just the afternoon for he'd already spent most of his life away from her since they moved to Japan. "I'll be home before dinner, I promise. And when I get home, you can have your day at the mall and I'll take care of Kenny."

"I really hope so, Tai," she said. "Yesterday you said you'd be home earlier …"

"It'll be different today. Besides, I sometimes I think you stay cooped up in this house for too long. You've gotta join a club or something, make some friends and hang out until you're fit to get a job."

"Then who will take care of the baby?"

"I will, if I'm not at work."

"Well one of us will have to be there for Kenny. Oh geez, this is so frustrating." Mei rubbed her eyes. "I don't regret having Kenny and all, but it's really taking a toll on me with him being so young, so dependant. And you're off at work all day …"

"Relax, Mei," Tai said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'll be back later this afternoon and you can go out. I promise. It'll give you ample time to go out and meet some people, maybe even work on your Japanese a little. You haven't had the chance to meet anyone yet, have you?"

"Funny you ask," she said, smirking. "I met a cheerful little boy yesterday while I was sitting out on the veranda. He was such a cute little thing."

Tai raised an eyebrow at her. "You're talking to children?"

"Oh, I've worked with them my whole life," Mei said, shrugging it off. "You can't blame me for being comfortable around them. Besides, he was the one who approached me and told me about himself. Although I'm a little concerned. I think he's a street child."

"Wow, a little judgmental, aren't we?"

"Well he said he didn't have any parents – which strikes me as being a little odd. Life must be so hard for him, especially being different than the locals."

"Define 'different'."

"He looked American. Or maybe European."

"Hmph," Tai grunted. "I didn't think there'd be too many of them over here."

"What an ignorant thing to say," Mei scolded. "We're in a big Japanese city. There's bound to be foreigners here. Shadowlaw themselves are a foreign company and it wouldn't surprise me if they were multi-ethnically staffed."

"Good point sweetie," he said, rising from his seat. He planted a kiss on her cheek. "But I think I'd better get going before I'm late."

"I've saved some food in the Tupperware sitting on the banister on your way out. Take it with you. And I want to see you back home before five today!"

"That's a promise, babe." With that, he left the dining room and walked quickly with wide steps out the door, locking it behind him. He'd left the house in a little under thirty seconds. Mei sighed and picked up the dirty dishes Tai left on the table and headed for the sink.

**XXXXX**

Bison stared disapprovingly at the security screen, or at least what it displayed. One of the newer recruits had discovered a candidate for the Doll Program. Bison squinted at the blurry duotone screen, trying to make out a face though the figure constantly kept its back turned to him. The girl who'd inhabited the cell for the last few weeks was terrified, pressing her body up against the door as if the closer she got to the outside world, the easier it would be for her to hold onto her sanity.

The researcher looked sympathetic, though not nearly as hysterical as he stood a foot or two away from the door, as if the sight of the disheveled young lady repelled him despite his good intentions. Bison hadn't ordered anyone to pay a visit to the Doll subjects. In fact, he imposed strict orders for them to be kept in isolation to prevent them from developing any newer, better memories in which the Psycho Drive would later have to erase. The bad memories were easy enough to wipe out, but people had the tendency to really hold onto the good ones. And with Doll number nine, she was particularly stubborn when it came to her memories. Going by her background as having a twin sister, he imagined the two of them must've had a wonderful childhood together. Those had been difficult enough to erase and here she was creating new, somewhat better memories with someone from the scientific division and … what was this? What was that shiny metal elongated object he held in his hand? It looked like … a spoon. And Doll Nine was swallowing whatever was on it. The scientist was feeding her. The sight enraged Bison that someone would dare disobey orders and not only break the isolation rule in regards to the Doll subjects, but FEED them! He rose quickly and violently from his seat, knocking the contraption over as it cluttered to the floor with a crash.

"Is something the matter, sir?" Vega asked from the shadows, the sudden noise catching his attention.

"I want you to head down to the compound," Bison ordered. "A scientist has left his post. And if that isn't bad enough, he's in direct contact with one of the Dolls. Get down there and terminate him!"

"Yes sir," Vega obeyed, bowing ever so slightly. He rolled up the sleeve on his left arm, revealing a three pronged, razor sharp claw strapped to his forearm by a brass brace. He unfastened it from the brace, clicking it into place on his wrist, the prongs protruding from his knuckles like extended blades as he spun around and exited the room.

"I don't know who you are," Bison said as he continued glaring hatefully into the screen, "but you will pay for defying me."

**XXXXX**

"That's it," Tai said regretfully, "I don't have anymore food left." He stared down at the empty lunch container that once held the food that Mei had packed for him, now sitting comfortably in Xiayu's belly.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Feng," she said. "It's no surprise that Mrs. Feng's husband is as kind as she is." Tai smiled in embarrassment. If she only knew what he though about her before he found her in this state …

"It was not a problem."

"Have you figured out a way to get me out of this place yet?" Xiayu asked.

"I haven't thought about it," he replied honestly. "I won't even think of getting you out of here before I can locate your sister. Do you know where they took her?"

She shook her head. "I don't remember a whole lot. I can't remember how they got me here, but I'm sure they must be keeping her somewhere close by. Have you checked this room yet?"

"I haven't looked around completely," he answered honestly. "But I can see other doors here. Maybe if I looked into them …"

They both heard sudden footsteps and froze. Somebody was coming – no, it was more than one approaching person. It sounded like a group of footsteps walking into the room.

"Alright, bitches! Who's up next for the Machine?"

"Oh no …" Xiayu whispered, her eyes growing wide and filling with tears. "You must get out of here, Mr. Feng. They come in everyday and take someone to the Machine. Sometimes it's me, sometimes it isn't. But everyday, if it's not me, someone is always screaming and crying."

"But I can't just leave you here!" Tai replied harshly, but quietly.

"No," Xiayu insisted. "These soldiers carry guns. Sometimes they point it at me and threaten to shoot, but they never do. It's because I'm important to this organization for some reason. But they might not have a problem shooting you. So please, do me a favor and run!"

Tai backed away from the door, looking behind him to see if anyone was approaching. He couldn't see anyone, but the footsteps and voices were quickly approaching and would be in sight of him in a matter of seconds. Acting on pure animal instinct, Tai ran as quietly as he could to an aisle flanked on each side by double rows of giant, glowing human-sized capsules. He hid in between the two rows of capsules, hoping their intense glow wouldn't draw the guards' attentions to him as he was pressed up against the glass from squeezing into such a tight space.

Within seconds he was in viewing distance of these guards. There were three of them, these large, burly men dressed in army slacks and jackets, wide brimmed hats covering a lot of their facial features. With nothing but theirs builds to tell them apart, they looked like legitimate clones of each other, if their voices didn't tell Tai otherwise. His stomach leapt into his throat as the triad approached Xiayu's cell where he was standing just mere moments before, and sank back down when they stopped at her neighbour's cell and opened up the door.

"Doll Seven," one of them said, "Master Bison has chosen you for the Machine today!"

"Fuck you!" a prepubescent girl cried.

"You're coming with us," another guard ordered.

"I'm not going anywhere until you learn to call me by my name!" she continued insisting. "My name is Juli!"

Tai felt a cold drop of sweat run down his back. Whoever the girl was, she may have been young but she didn't have any fear when it came to these guards. A part of him wished she would pipe down and co-operate with them for her sake. He didn't know what they were planning on doing to her, but if she managed to piss them off enough, he was sure they wouldn't waste a second in teaching her a lesson in respect.

"Don't you touch me!" she insisted, but following that were the grunts of efforts from the guards.

"Cover her damn hole," one of them ordered. "She'll wake up the other subjects."

"My name is Juli!" she continued crying. "My name is Juli!" With every repetition, her cries became more panicked more desperate, until they faded into violent, incomprehensible sobs echoing off the cement walls of the large, mostly empty room. Tai's heart sank now as it threatened to beat its way out of his ribcage. His eyes watered in sympathy for the girl and he began to feel as panicked and terrified as she sounded. He felt so helpless, wedged there in between two giant glass capsules while three armed guards carried a young, helpless girl away to be tortured. He wanted to run out there and catch the men off guard, take them out with the martial arts skills he'd learned studying under Master Gen. But Tai had been out of practice for so long he wondered if they would do him any good at this point, especially being as scared and angry as he was at the situation. Secondly, if anything happened to him, Xiayu would once again be alone in this crazy place – the place that Tai worked at.

It was at that moment when the question hit him like an eighteen wheeler – who the hell did he work for? What kind of people would treat other human beings like this, let alone young, innocent, defenseless girls? He couldn't answer that question, especially not right now when the girl's horrified his screams were constantly interrupting his thoughts, destroying his attempts to get his brain thinking straight, out of this overwhelming surge of negative emotion. Tai forced himself to shut his eyes and cover his ears to silence the horrible screams as they began to fade gradually, the girl being carried of farther and farther into the distance. He wanted to help her but he couldn't. He would risk his life, and risk leaving Xiayu alone .. but the other girl could die … but Xiayu would be by herself … but Juli could have her young life taken from her and it would all be Tai's fault … but he would be killed and then she would be too … His mind threatened to pull itself apart in two different directions when the deafening silence suddenly fell.

There was no more screaming, no more crying, no grunts hauling the poor girl to her fate, and Tai was beginning to feel the real guilt sinking in, weighing him to the spot where he hid. But Xiayu was still in there, and she needed his help. Tai pulled himself together with great effort, given the events that had just unfolded before his eyes. Never in his life had he seen another human being be treated like such an animal, without any sympathy or mercy. And his mouth cringed and his heart ached imagining what Juli could be going through in a matter of moments.

He walked over to Xiayu's cell and called through the opening. "Are you alright?" After there was no silence for a reasonable amount of time, Tai peered into the cell to see the poor girl curled up on the floor, lying on her side with her knees to her chest. Her hands were pressed firmly over her ears, her eyes squeezed shut so tightly that tears leaked slowly from between her lids.

Tai felt something cold and sharp rest on the back of his neck. At first it thought it was just his fired nerves startling his brain, until he felt pressure against the skin, and then it breaking. There was no pain though, just a warm trail of liquid drop down his neck and onto his dress shirt. He spun around and took a startled step back, pressing himself up against the door of the cell.

Vega de la Cerna, one of Bison's personal bodyguards who'd been introduced to him just yesterday stood there with an outstretched arm with a wicked claw worn around his wrist, stretching out just centimeters from Tai's throat. The effeminate man's glossy lips curled up into a smile while the rest of his porcelain face remained inhumanly still.

"Master Bison ordered the Doll subjects to be left in isolation," he said, his voice like a delicate bell in this metallic, hostile environment. "What are you doing here?"

"M…my name is Dr. Tai Su Feng," Tai replied nervously, spilling as much information as he could so the guard wouldn't have to bother asking him for more, so that he appeared as a legitimate worker in the compound. "My card number is …"

"I didn't ask for your name," Vega said frowning, "but I do recognize it. You're the head scientist for the Shadow Technology, are you not?" Tai nodded, gulping. "Master Bison has ordered me to kill you for intruding into the compound. But it's likely that he didn't realize who you were. Losing you would mean losing completion of the Shadow Technology and I don't think Lord Bison would appreciate that much, especially after investing so much in you. I will let you off with a warning this time. But if I ever catch you here again, I will cut you down where you stand. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y…yes, sir."

"Good. Now return to your lab, or go home. I don't care, just get out of here." Tai followed Vega out of the room obediently, but stole a glance backwards at the quiet cell where he stood only seconds ago, knowing that Xiayu would have to be alone for the remainder of her time here. His heart ached for her, and for whoever else was considered a Doll subject but there was nothing he could do for any of them, despite being so close by. The sense of helplessness over overwhelming.


	6. Chapter 5: Guilt Tripping

Tai stumbled through the small gate that led to the porch of his quaint home in the outskirts of Osaka City, barely registering what was in front of him. He nearly tripped over the two steps that led up to his door. Despite the countless accidents on the way home, tripping, walking into objects and the like, none of it really registered. If he had tried to remember his trip home, he wouldn't have been able to. Tai's mind was swimming with the recent events that occurred at the Shadowlaw base.

"Young girls caged like animals," he mumbled to himself for the millionth time that late afternoon. He recalled the names of the two girls he'd already encountered; Juli and Xiayu. Xiayu had said her sister was taken too, which meant Yanyu was somewhere in the complex as well. Were they it? Was it just the three of them? If not, how many more were there?

"You're home."

Mei's matter-of-fact tone, lacking in any emotion startled him. He recognized this behavior; it usually preceded a silent treatment. She stood facing him at the entrance with little Kenny in her arms.

"Yeah …" Tai replied, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Something wrong?" There was still no emotion in her voice.

Yeah, there was plenty wrong and Tai wanted to let it all out right then and there. He wanted to finally admit to his wife that it was a mistake accepting the job offer from Shadowlaw, that he was still hurt over his previous firm's rejection of his project, that he had no idea what he was getting into by relocating to Japan and that Mei was right all along with her hunches about the company. Yet, she had stuck by his side so faithfully, dropping the teaching career she loved so much to support her husband. She deserved better and having him admit his failures to her was only the tip of the iceberg. She had no idea – and up to this morning, neither had Tai – just what kind of company Shadowlaw was making itself out to be.

But he didn't want to tell her now, not when she was getting ready for an outing around town for the first time since they'd moved to this foreign country.

"No," Tai lied. "Go out, do some shopping, have some fun. It's about time you had some time to yourself instead of being cooped up in this house all day. I'll make dinner."

"Well I wanted to drop by the Izumiya and get some groceries …"

"No, Mei," Tai insisted, "I mean go and get your nails done, buy some shoes, a new outfit, you know? Have some fun."

The corners of her mouth upturned slightly at the prospect. "I'm not sure I remember how," she joked. "Here." She plopped Kenny into Tai's outstretched arms and proceeded to get her shoes on. "You want me to bus it, or am I allowed to take the company car?"

"Take the company car," Tai replied.

"It's almost time for Kenny's dinner," Mei said over her shoulder as she prepared to walk out the open door. "I've left the right measurements of milk powder in a cup on the counter. Just microwave some warm milk, mix it with the powder and give it to him in about a half hour. He'll get cranky if you don't …"

"Relax, I've got it all taken care of," Tai said, ushering his wife out the door.

He locked the door behind her, and an awkward moment of silence followed. Tai held Kenny in his arms but the child didn't have his head resting on Tai's shoulder as he'd usually do with Mei. Instead, the baby had his head held slightly turned, trying to get a glimpse of the face belonging to these strange arms that held him.

"What's the matter, huh? Don't recognize your own dad when you see him?" Tai said to the child. Kenny didn't say anything, letting his mouth spread into a toothless grin. Tai took him into the living room where there was a cot set up and placed Kenny inside. On the opposite wall sat a computer work station where Tai proceeded to next. He was ordered to remain in the scientific compounds at work, and more importantly, out of the prison holdings. If there was no way he could offer immediate assistance to Xiayu and Yanyu, then he would do so indirectly. He didn't like the girls, but they didn't come close to deserving their treatment.

Tai opened up his default web browser and navigated immediately to the New China Times website, the local newspaper he subscribed to during his time in Beijing. The website's designers clearly had no sense of typographic presentation as his browser downloaded paragraphs of Chinese ideograms formatted in clunks, slapped together with satellite images and screen captures from TV broadcasts. Tai had visited the page frequently in the past and had long since gotten used to the amateur looking layout, surprisingly the official web page to a professional newspaper.

It didn't take him long to stumble across an article that had caught his attention. "Search for missing twin sisters intensifies." Tai clicked on the link, bringing him to a similarly laid out page where he skimmed the story.

Barely a few minutes was all it took for Tai to understand what was going on. The closed his browser window and shut off the monitor without thinking of it, his mind swimming with guilt. He wasn't responsible for what had happened the twins, but he knew where they were and this was his opportunity to help them. He moved to turn on his monitor again, to contact Interpol any organization that he could tip off, but what if they traced his IP? He had to remain anonymous for if Shadowlaw found out …

Well, what could they do? How far would they go? Tai couldn't be entirely sure, considering he was under the impression his employers were just another scientific research firm not too different than his last, not a growing organization with their own military that just so happened to have their own scientific branch.

His thoughts were interrupted by Kenny's wailing coming from the cot just a few feet behind him. Tai groaned, got to his feet and made his way to the kitchen.

"Your bottle's coming, it's coming," he pleaded silently for the child to be quiet. Grabbing the milk from the fridge, he poured it into a mug and placed it in the microwave for thirty seconds. Waiting for it to heat, he dashed into the living room and retrieved Kenny from the cot, who still continued to wail in his arms, kicking his short stubby legs, waving his chubby hands.

"What am I doing wrong?!" Tai asked in desperation, holding him away at arm's length.

Kenny continued to wail and just when Tai thought he was going to throw the baby down to the floor in frustration, he was saved by the doorbell ringing. He gave a shallow sigh of relief and took Kenny back to his cot and ran for the door. Small as his property was, it had a gated wall surrounding the perimeter and the visitor would likely be waiting just beyond the gates.

Tai didn't know who to expect. Mei had only left less than an hour ago and he didn't think she would be back so soon. He was startled to see a young boy standing at the gates; a boy of Western European or American heritage with a short crop of bright red hair and freckles dotting the bridge of his nose. His hands were wrapped tightly around the bars, his mouth spread into a grin; a black hole where his two front teeth should have been. Tai opened his mouth to ask the boy what he wanted, when he realized he'd probably have to use _English_. Suddenly the thought of entertaining his cranky son didn't seem so terrifying anymore.

"Where's Mei?" the boy asked before Tai could force a decent sentence from his mouth.

"Mei … no here," Tai stammered in thickly accented English.

"Oh." It didn't take any words for Tai to see the disappointment in the child's bright green eyes.

"You …" Tai scratched at the back of his head nervously, trying to think of the word, "come from far?" He waved his hands vigorously toward the horizon to emphasize his point.

The child picked his gaze up off the floor and made eye-contact with Tai. "Yeah. I try to visit Mei when I'm around the neighborhood."

So this was who his wife was spending those days alone at home while he was at work. She wasn't just taking care of Kenny and cooking for the three of them. Well of course she couldn't. It'd be enough to drive anyone crazy after a week. She was satisfying her need to be around children through this boy, this mop headed wrinkly clothed, bare footed boy … And then Tai noticed the clothes on his small frame after noting his skin colour and hair.

He was dressed in an oversized T-shirt, frayed at the collar sleeve cuffs. The dull white fabric, that Tai supposed had actually faded from something far more vibrant over the years of use, showed what had remained of mud stains made ages ago. The boy wore khaki shorts which, like the shirt, was slightly oversized and well used.

"Eat?" Tai asked. He brought up his hand, holding an invisible bowl and with the other hand, scooped invisible food towards his face.

It took the boy a moment for Tai's gestures to register. "No, not yet."

Tai motioned towards the front door of the house. "You eat now?"

The boy gave a nervous smile. It was obvious he'd come to the house expecting to find Mei. Now faced with her husband, he wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Tai understood this and tried making the situation as least awkward as he could.

**XXXXX**

The boy had agreed to come in for a snack and Tai was grateful he didn't have to use his under-developed English skills to get his point across. Combine that with his inability to handle children for too long and this meeting was a potential disaster. Kenny was already keeping his hands full. And during his days spent at work, Mei had to contend with their baby and this boy … Come to think of it, Tai had never asked his name but he knew all the same – Mei had talked about their midday meetings on a few occasions.

"You like instant noodles, Craig?" he asked from the kitchen. He'd left Craig in the living room, hoping he and Kenny would occupy each other.

"Anything's good, Mr. Feng!" he called back.

"I no good cook," Tai explained. "Mei good cook."

Craig nodded. "Yeah, Mei told me."

The boy couldn't see from where he was sitting but a sour look crossed Tai's features. This was his first time meeting his wife's new buddy and he finds out the brat already knows Tai's weaknesses. Then again, what harm could Craig do?

Tai took the pot off the stove, containing yellowish wheat noodles swimming in a chicken flavored broth, threw in some chopped up mushrooms and spinach and served it to Craig who now had Kenny sitting on the floor in front of him. He was making faces at the baby who smiled back in delight.

"You know Kenny good already, hah?" Tai commented, setting the bowl of noodles in front of Craig. He then picked Kenny off the floor and deposited him back into the crib.

"Yeah, Kenny knows me well," Craig replied, picking up the fork Tai provided and began slurping away at the noodles.

The afternoon passed quickly. Tai moved Kenny's crib to the bedroom while Craig finished up his snack, after which they plopped themselves down on the living room couch and turned on the TV. It was next to impossible to find anything that remotely interested Tai. He had a weak grasp of the local Japanese language and the only show he could find in his own native tongue was on the multicultural channel, broadcasting some drama he wouldn't be surprised to find his wife watching. They ended up watching an American Hollywood movie dubbed in Japanese which Craig had no problem understanding. Tai had long given up trying to get the gist of what was going on and let his mind wander.

He considered the situation and just how strange it was. Weeks ago, he would've never thought he'd find himself smack dab in the middle of suburban Osaka spending a weekend away from work at a company he'd never heard of with a European-American boy, watching TV while his wife went out and pampered herself for the afternoon.

The movie was just coming to an end when they heard the front door unlock itself. Both Craig and Tai straightened and craned their necks toward the doorway.

"Hey hun, I'm home …" Mei called, but she trailed off noticing Craig sitting beside her husband.

"Look who came to visit us," Tai said, motioning to Craig.

"I should have been here to introduce you guys," Mei apologized. "I should have known you were going to come visit me today, Craig."

"Nah, it's fine," Craig said. "Mr. Feng here gave me something to eat. We've been hanging out while you were gone."

"It's good to hear he didn't bore you."

"Well Craig, maybe time to go home, no?" Tai said. "Sun go down quickly." At those words, the vibrant expression on the boys face, present there since he got here, vanished.

"Honey, we need to talk for a second," Mei said, noticing the look on the boy's face that Tai was oblivious to.

"Is there a problem?" he asked her. Her expression told him there was something he needed to know. Mei took him by the elbow and led him into the kitchen, telling Craig to wait a moment for them.

"You look nice," Tai said.

"Don't change the subject," Mei interrupted. "Look, I know you're not a fan of kids."

"That's not what this is about. I'm just thinking the kid's parents will be a little worried, especially since he's been here all afternoon without calling home."

"That's why I need to talk to you," Mei said. "Craig's got no parents. He lives on the streets." Tai's mouth nearly hit the floor. He was speechless for a moment so Mei continued talking. "You shouldn't be that surprised, really. It shows in the way he dresses, though one does wonder where he gets his manners from. I wouldn't expect someone of his … upbringing to be so pleasant."

Tai shrugged. "Well I noticed his clothes were a little dirty but …"

Mei rolled her eyes. "Should've known you're not the type to notice anything if it's not under a microscope."

"Well what do you want us to do about his situation? It's getting late and it's time for him to go home; whether it's to his parents' house or some box in an alley, doesn't really matter."

"I've offered to let him stay here when he needs to, Tai."

His mouth straightened into a thin line. His immediate emotion upon hearing those words was rage but he had to be rational about this. "You did this without telling me?"

"It's not a big deal, Tai. Craig likes his independence. It's just that … with all the stories he's told me about the other kids on the street, sometimes it gets a little scary for him out there. So I told him if he needs to lay low for awhile, he can do that here."

"And you trust him to come in here and not steal our belongings?"

"What belongings, Tai? The only thing he could steal is that crappy thirteen inch TV. Everything else is packed tightly away in the attic since we've been too busy to unpack it all."

"What about our couch? Coffee table?"

"Like he's going to get that out the door by himself!"

"He'll bring other street riffraff with him! I swear, Mei, sometimes your need to be around children can be a little much. If you wanted another kid, we could just make one! Why'd you have to take this one under your wing?"

"Look, I don't know Craig like I know my students back home but he's a good kid. I can tell."

Tai threw his hands up in the air. "Fine. Just for tonight. But we've really got to sit down and have a talk with him in the near future, just to lay down some rules."

"I'm sorry, I should've told you. But I just didn't feel comfortable letting the poor guy spend night after night on the street without at least having some place to go to when he needs to."

"Just go prepare him a spare mattress or something," Tai sighed.

Mei smiled at him gratefully and went to retrieve Craig who was still at the door waiting to hear the outcome of their discussion. As she left the kitchen, Tai busied himself with the dirty dishes in the sink. The relieved look his wife gave him held a glimmer of guilt too. But it was nothing compared to the guilt that he carried with him since relocating to Osaka.

Shadowlaw had taken the reins of his pet project. Instead of the man who had developed something great, he felt more like the man who oversaw the project, having to answer directly to M. Bison. He wasn't accustomed to this kind of micromanagement, let alone on his own personal project. It then occurred to Tai that Shadowlaw had only taken him in because of said pet project. By accepting the job offer, he was giving up any entitlements he had to it as its creator. Step down. Work as a regular scientist in a far greater plan that revolved around his work … what was it they had called it?

The Shadow Technology …


	7. Chapter 6: The Dolls

Tai didn't sleep very well that night. He glanced over at his wife, sound asleep beside him on the bed and gave a subconscious smirk. This was probably one of the few good night sleeps she's had since marrying him since his snoring did a good job of keeping her up if Kenny wasn't crying at some unholy hour.

He turned back around, stuffed his hand under his pillow and tried to find another comfortable position he could fall asleep in. But the moment he closed his eyes, Tai saw Xiayu's face pressed up against the cold, rusty metal bars of the cell in the military block of Shadowlaw's compound where she was held. He heard the screams of Juli, the young girl and Xiayu's fellow prisoner carried away kicking and screaming by guards, off to some torturous machine that, according to Xiayu, would erase bits of her memory with every treatment. Tai remembered how he hid amidst the giant, human-sized glass capsules as he watched the guards drag Juli away. Thinking back to his hiding place among the capsules, he began to wonder what they would have been used for.

Being scooped up by Shadowlaw immediately after he left his original employers back in China filled Tai with immense relief and hope that someone else besides him could see the potential in his work. He was grateful to Shadowlaw for giving him a chance. But now that happiness was slowly subsiding and he was beginning to see the awful things his new employers stood for – not that the clues weren't there to begin with and Mei had picked up on them from the start. Still, like a good supportive wife, she remained mum about her suspicions and put her full trust in him … _When she shouldn't have, _Tai added with a twinge of bitterness at himself.

Tai was mercifully ripped from his thoughts when he thought he heard Kenny make a sound of amusement, and it was coming from the living room. Fearing that the baby would start crying and wake Mei up, Tai crawled out of bed and into his house slippers to go investigate the noise.

Plodding down the stairs at a hippo's pace, his eyes reflexively narrowed from the light coming from the living room. He found Craig sitting on the sofa wide awake and watching TV. Kenny was plopped beside him on the sofa, pulling on the bottom of Craig's shirt and chewing on it.

Tai took a moment to form the question in English in his head before speaking out loud. "Craig no sleep tonight?" He made a mental note to improve his English if he ever got the chance.

He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "Good morning, Mr. Feng. I wasn't tired just now so I thought I'd watch TV or something. Kenny crawled out of his crib to keep me company."

"Kenny no good with strangers. Kenny no good with me. But good with you."

"He's probably never seen someone with hair like mine before," Craig said. "Thanks for letting me spend the night, Mr. Feng. I really appreciate it. Today is my birthday, you know."

"Oh?" Tai suddenly felt relieved that he agreed to let Craig stay. He wasn't sure if he could live with himself knowing he kicked the kid to the curb on his birthday of all days. "Celebration for you, yes? Come, I make for you eat."

"Yeah!" Craig said excitedly, and got off the couch. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten Kenny was chewing on his shirt and the fabric was pulled from the baby's mouth. Kenny began to mourn the loss of his distraction with wail.

"Kenny, be quiet!" Tai urged, running to pick him up. But Kenny had barely begun to cry when a louder, more desperate scream could be heard coming from outside; a scream that chilled Tai to the core. It startled Kenny enough that even he had stopped crying and turned his head towards the window to see what was going on.

Tai made a move for the door and Craig followed behind him. He turned and stopped the boy in his tracks. "Maybe dangerous. Craig look after Kenny." He didn't wait for a reply from Craig and dashed out the door. The girl was still screaming for help.

He charged through the gate, looking left and right for the source of the screams, and saw her silhouette, outlined by the dimming street lights and the first rays of sunlight from the horizon. He was a lithe girl dressed in a tight fitting T-shirt and a short mini-skirt. Had she been a little older, Tai would've guessed she'd been a prostitute but she looked at him to be a high school girl caught at the wrong time at the wrong place.

"Tasukete!" she screamed. _Help._

Then he spotted her attackers; four men dressed entirely in black surrounding her. Going by their forms in the early morning light, they looked like armored men donning some kind of heavy duty equipment, but it was hard to make out the details in the bad lighting. There was no time to consider what they could want with her or if they would pose a physical threat to Tai. The four men were closing in on her. Letting his instincts take over, Tai made a dash for the men while the girl continued to scream for her life.

"Get away from her!" he ordered. But instead of turning to run away, the four men adjusted their positions to face him, aiming with what looked like firearms. "Shit," he cursed under his breath, but it was too late now. Even if he ran in the opposite direction, they would shoot him. Tai continued charging, ducked and dodged the first shots and took out the closest soldier with a sharp elbow to the abdomen and an open palm strike to the jaw. Pain exploded in his elbow just as the soldier fell and Tai realized he must have been wearing body armor, which begged the question; why in the world would four fully grown, burly men need body armor and weapons to approach a young girl?

Again, there was no time to ask questions, only time to act. Scooping up the fallen soldier's firearm in his hands, Tai fired at his remaining comrades. The first two fell without much more than a grunt but the third hit Tai in the shoulder as he was firing, causing him to lose grip of the weapon. It continued to fire rounds as it dropped, hitting the third soldier in the throat. He went down in a gurgling, coughing fit. Tai was hit again in the leg before the gun stopped firing. Letting out a scream of agony, he joined the soldiers on the ground, barely hearing the girl run up to him to see if he was okay.

"Oji-san daijyoubu?" she asked in Japanese. _Are you okay, sir?_

"I'm okay … ARGH!" Tai was cut off by the pain racking his body from both his bullet wounds. His body shook from shock, cold sweat started condensing all over his body. "Please … please call an ambulance."

"It's all my fault!" the girl wailed with regret. "I'm so sorry this happened to you!"

With his good arm, Tai pointed in the direction of his home. "My … house …" he stammered, "Phone ambulance ..."

The girl nodded and brushed his forehead with her hand. "Don't worry, I'll be right back, I promise!"

**XXXXX**

It wasn't hard for her to find the only house with the lights on and a woman holding a baby standing in the doorway holding a baby in her arms. _Oh no, _she thought, _the man who saved me. He has a family. I'll never forgive myself if he got killed on my behalf! _

"What's going on here?" the woman in the doorway asked. "Where's Tai?"

"He got shot!" she told her. "Please, ma'am, we need to call an ambulance!"

"Craig, grab the phone," the woman ordered a small American boy who was in the house with her. He promptly delivered the phone to the girl. "You'll need to speak," the woman told her, "you saw everything."

But before she could dial the first number, she felt the phone get knocked out of her hands. The woman holding the baby screamed in terror, falling to her knees on the floor. She nearly dropped the baby in the process.

"Nearly got away, didn't you, Satsuki?" someone asked from behind her.

The girl felt a hand close on her mouth and she tried screaming through the gloved hand that muffled her screams. Another arm wrapped itself around her waist and hoisted her into the air, kicking and screaming. "Help!"

"Shhhhh, you'll wake the neighbors. "Struggle too much and we might have a little accident." Satsuki looked at the arm that held her and noticed the tail of a snake tattooed in purple ink into the skin. More terrifying than that was the two foot, three pronged claw attached to the man's wrist. He was right. If she moved too much, he would slip and the claw would disembowel her.

Then man continued to speak in her ear. "Now why don't you be a good girl and come with us? You don't want to get anymore people killed on your behalf, do you?"

Again, she realized the truth in his words. More of those same guards that attacked her flanked her assailant on both sides, with their guns trained on the little American boy, and the helpless woman begging for mercy on the ground, trying to shield her baby from the guns.

"Please don't hurt anyone else," Satsuki said. "I'll come with you."

"That's my pretty doll," the man said. He backed out of the entrance of the house with her in his hands, and ordered his soldiers to close the door behind them. They took her back to the streets where a rope ladder dropped from a helicopter hovering over the street lights. She stole a glance at the man who tried to save her, the man whose family she just saved in return for his kindness, and noticed him lying on the pavement in a pool of his own dark red blood. The bodies of the other soldiers had been removed. She hoped his wife was in their home right now dialing for an ambulance, for there was nothing further she could do in return for his selflessness.

**XXXXX**

Bison gave Vega the hardest backhand he'd ever given any one of his employees. The impact of Vega's face against his knuckles was hard and satisfying but it did little to curb the rage that boiled his blood. Vega fell on his butt on the cold tiling, wincing, rubbing his face. One of his eyes was tightly closed and had already begun tearing.

"You fool!" Bison bellowed. "Do you realize what you could've done?!"

"There was no way of knowing, Master Bison," Vega retorted. "We were doing everything we could to capture Satsuki. Lord Bison, with her capture, the Doll Program is about to enter the final stages before completion."

"If you weren't wearing that stupid mask of yours," Bison hissed, "you would have seen that the man who intervened was one of my top scientists developing the Shadow Technology!"

"But Satsuki …"

"There are thousands of teenage girls in the world!" Bison continued. "Any one of them could take Satsuki's place as Doll 5. But someone of Dr. Feng's caliber is much harder to find. Make this kind of mistake again and I will have you destroyed, Vega. Mark my words. Now get out of my sight." Vega picked himself up off the floor and skulked towards the entrance to Bison's office, rubbing his face along the way.

As soon as the doors to Bison's closed with a final clang, Vega drove his fist into the metallic paneling of the hallway in which he now stood. Screw Bison. The man was obviously too wrapped up in himself to care about the development of Shadowlaw into both a military and scientific force. The Shadow Technology was a project barely a month in the making. The Doll Program, on the other hand, had been in effect for almost a year now. It was a lot harder to capture twelve unsuspecting teenage girls from around the world without raising an international uproar than it was to recruit any old scientist.

As far as Vega was concerned, Dr. Feng could've died tonight and that wouldn't have made a difference to him. Such was the fate of anyone willing to meddle in Shadowlaw's affairs. Why Bison was so caught up with having Dr. Feng finish his work was beyond Vega's understanding. The scientific data and research was all there. He had already completed the bulk of the research. Any other scientist – one without such a hard head – could finish tweaking the work to be compatible with the Psycho Drive. Besides, the dolls were much more entertaining to be around.

Vega found himself walking amongst the cells that held Bison's private collection of girls. Each of them was from a different countries around the world, a wide spectrum of hair colors and skin tones. But there were two things they all shared in common; one, they were all crouched on the floors of their cells either crying or staring dazed at the walls from their treatment with the Psycho Drive; two, they all were around fourteen or fifteen years old with similar builds. These body types, calculated by the scientists of the Doll Program, were ideal for the army of Doll Soldiers designed by the system.

But it was none of these twelve girls that Vega had come down to see tonight. There was a single girl held in a large glass capsule, suspended in blue liquid that drew him. She was far more beautiful than any of the others. And she didn't need to be apprehended. She was manufactured, which explained her perfection. A physical manifestation of Vega's definition of beauty. The girl had long, silky blonde hair that, in the water, looked as if it had a life of its own, encasing her body in its protective cocoon. She had narrow soldiers, and bulging hips, thin but toned limbs, all covered with smooth, milky skin.

Vega removed his mask and pressed his nose against the glass at eye level with the Super-Doll. He closed his eyes and pursed his lips, feeling the cool glass against them, enjoying the sensation of being this close to the leader of the Psycho Dolls, completely ignoring the plate at the top of the capsule reading "Doll 13: The Killer Bee."


	8. Chapter 7: Orders

The first thing Tai experienced was a pounding headache. It felt as if his brain was trapped inside his skull and was trying to beat its way out. When he was training with Master Gen, the kids always used to make fun of his smarts and say that his brain would one day figure out a way to escape him. Tai never thought he'd believe it.

A child beside him started crying, "Mei, I think he's waking up!" at a volume that didn't help the pounding subside.

He heard some shuffling, the sound of someone making their way over to where he lay. Aside from the child's previous outcry of her name, the light frangipani scent told Tai that it was his wife. She spoke with relief and her sniffling told him without having to open his eyes that she had been crying.

"Open your eyes, dear," she pleaded softly.

"Mmm," Tai mumbled in response. He knew if he did, the light would make his migraine worse.

"It's alright," Mei continued. He could feel the cool touch of her hand on his forehead. "It's just Craig, me, and Kenny here. Open your eyes so we know you're okay."

Well, Tai supposed if it made them feel better, he could go through a little pain. He opened his eyes and focused his blurry vision on the silhouette of his wife coming slowly into focus. She had the widest smile on her face and her eyes were watery, threatening to spill tears onto his chin. Surprisingly, the soft light felt good and he found himself smiling back at her.

"Feels good," he croaked, realizing only then how raw his voice sounded. "I need water."

"Stay right there," Mei said, putting her hands lightly on his chest. "I'll go grab you a glass." She got up to her feet and skittered out of the room with short, rapid steps, leaving Craig to watch over Tai as Kenny flailed his stubby arms from Craig's lap while Tai got used to the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Mei told me to tell you not to move too much," Craig said. "You're hurt."

"Tai feeling good," he said in his broken English as he attempted to sit up, but gave a soft yelp as he felt his left shoulder explode into a world of burning pain, forcing him to collapse back onto his pillow.

"See?" Craig said like a little know-it-all, Mei told me to tell you not to move.

Despite the pain, Tai looked at Craig and gave the American-looking boy a smile. "Craig, good boy. Craig don't change."

Mei came stumbling back into the room, nearly spilling the water in the glass she held in her hand. "What happened?" she cried in alarm.

"He tried to move," Craig explained, while Tai scowled at him.

Mei breathed yet another sigh of relief and placed the glass on the bedside table. It was then that Tai noticed a plastic straw sticking out of the glass. He was thankful that Mei would consider that he couldn't get up to drink the water straight out of the glass. Tai knew he wouldn't have thought about it were he in her shoes. "Don't do that to me," she said. "And drink up."

As Tai took the straw in his mouth, he felt that he still had to at least lean his head forward while drinking so the water wouldn't sit in his throat. Peristalsis didn't work well against gravity. As he drank, Mei reminded him of what had happened.

"I spoke to the police about the men who shot you," she explained. "I can't speak Japanese too well so I ended up flailing my arms around in the air like a moron, trying to describe what happened. It was hard enough to explain what you were doing in the middle of the night on the street getting shot, let alone the kidnapped girl."

"How is the girl doing?" Tai asked between gulps.

Mei shook her head. "They got away with her. She agreed to go with them if … if …" She choked on her own words.

"Continue," Tai urged.

"The girl saved the three of us." Mei motioned to the two kids and herself. "The men had guns pointed at us. And she said she would go with them if they left us alone."

"So I wasn't able to help her …" Tai said, staring blankly at his feet on the other end of the bed. He unconsciously balled his hands into tight fists.

"There wasn't anything you could do," Mei continued, urging her husband to calm down. "You did your best and got shot for it. They were burly men with body armour and guns. You were a frail scientist in a night robe."

"I was a student of Master Gen. He trained us to deal with these kinds of situations."

"For goodness sakes, you are a father. It's time you stop pretending you're invincible. We have a son now, Tai, and he needs you. And I can't raise him on my own."

"We couldn't raise the twins on our own either, Mei." Tai had meant it as a casual comment but going by the expression on Mei's face, he'd hit a nerve by saying something VERY wrong.

"What happened to the twins wasn't our fault," she hissed angrily.

"I know, I'm sorry," Tai said, putting his hands up to surrender. Hopefully his wife would have the decency to lay off an injured man. "The situation was out of our control."

"I didn't know the one child policy applied to twins as well," Mei continued, a little calmer but no less sadder this time. The tears she held back when Tai was waking up earlier now spilled, only for a completely different reason this time. She buried her face and he expected her to start sobbing loudly. But to his great surprise, she didn't.

"Aaron and Katarina are happy now," Tai said, pulling his wife closer to him. He winced as his shoulder started burning, but took it in stride. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything about the twins."

"I love Kenny," Mei said, "but we can't just forget about the twins. They're our kids too."

"Shhh," Tai put a finger on her lips. "We can't mention this in public. Remember, officially, we don't know who the twins are. We don't even know they exist."

"I know, just … sometimes I can't."

"We have to, or we lose Kenny too."

**XXXXX**

M. Bison walked casually among the selected candidates for the Doll Program, admiring every single one of the twelve cells, some of which were unoccupied; either because they were off getting their daily dose of Psycho Energy, or because the chosen girls simply had not been acquired yet. Doll 7 was in her cell, curled into a ball with her back facing the door. Bison gazed at her with his soulless eyes, appreciating her sheer perfection of her body type. Not that he was attracted to it, sexually or otherwise.

No, it had to more with the martial arts style that the company's military was to be trained in. The basic punches and kicks, as demonstrated to Bison by a group of his top generals, were strong and deadly enough, but it was the fancier more agile flips and throws that were designed to cause the most damage. And they required a smaller, lighter, more compact body-type to pull off successfully. And it was with this certain body-type in mind that Bison had requested the Dolls be constructed from. Too big, and the fighter would crash to the ground upon completion of the move. Too small and there wouldn't be enough momentum to successfully cause harm. The correct height to weight ratio happened to be met most commonly by women; more precisely, young women.

With the proper statistics in mind, Shadowlaw began its global hunt for the perfect girls and had acquired roughly half of what they had needed thus far. And Satsuki was the most recent addition to his collection. It had taken months of preparation and the company's best programmers and computer scientists to hack the systems of developed nations all over the world to gather data on their citizens.

Now, Bison walked among the beginning of the fruits of his organization's labours. He stopped by the cell of his newly captured Doll 5, Satsuki, who now lay asleep from the drugs injected into her. Because of Dr. Feng's attempted rescue, Bison could have very well lost a key scientist to the development of the Shadow Technology and Satsuki along with him. Bison realized he couldn't afford to keep the scientist in the dark about his employment at Shadowlaw. He could try to unknowingly disrupt any of the company's future plans for the sake of "doing the right thing". And if the good doctor refused to work for the company after finding out what their plans were … well, Shadowlaw had their ways of convincing their employees to stay put.

"Lord Bison," someone called from behind, interrupting his thoughts. Bison turned around to find himself looking at the massive chest of one of his bodyguards, Sagat. He shifted his gaze a good foot up to meet Sagat's eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Bison demanded.

"Just making my rounds, sir," the bodyguard explained.

"Really?" Bison asked, "or have you come down to admire my collection as well?"

"Well …" Sagat's face began to flush.

"I haven't been to check on the thirteenth Doll. How is she doing?"

"Her vital signs are healthy," Sagat reported, thankful to have changed the subject. "Nothing else to report on her status."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from one made from my very own genetics," Bison said, almost in adoration.

"If I may ask, my Lord," Sagat said, "why have you decided for your alternate shell to be produced as a woman?"

"Women have a greater threshold for pain than men do, Sagat. And I want her endowed with the Shadowlaw Military's deadliest abilities, just as the other Dolls will be. So when this body dies, my mind will be transplanted into the ultimate fighting machine. Then, no army, no government will be able to defy the will of Shadowlaw."

"In the meantime, what do you wish to have done with the meddling scientist?"

Bison scoffed. "If it is Dr. Feng you are referring to, I would like someone to talk to him. He is a brilliant mind, but much too righteous for us to capitalize on his efficiency. He needs to know exactly what he's doing and why."

"But with all due respects, sir," Sagat interjected, "Shadowlaw is in no position to lose pioneers in any of our departments."

"I've considered that," Bison replied. "But in his ignorance, Dr. Feng nearly cost us Satsuki yesterday. As it is, he's already killed a few of our soldiers to prevent her from being taken without knowing it was US doing the kidnapping. We can't risk him foiling anything else."

"He could very well report us to the authorities."

"That's why I'll be sending you and Vega to have a friendly meeting with the good doctor."

**XXXXX**

Visiting hours had ended at least three hours ago and Mei had left with Craig and Kenny long before that to give him an opportunity to rest up and let his wounds heal. Tai lay in bed setting the soft beeping of the monitor beside his bed lull him to sleep. His eyes were about to close for the night when he thought he'd heard a scuffle outside his room. He was so tired that he chose to ignore it and let himself sleep. But then, the room door opened, letting light from the hallway spill in and a tall man walked through with a nurse whispering harshly at his heels, pleading for him to leave. Another form gently but firmly moved the nurse out of the way and forced the door closed behind them.

Tai squinted in the darkness, trying to make out who it was coming into his room at such an odd hour. The lights flicked on and Tai saw the smaller man, one he recognized as Vega, one of Bison's associates, lock the door with a loud click. The tall man, he realized now, was another associate of Bison's. Both were dressed in expensive looking Italian suits, and he suddenly began to feel very threatened. There was nobody in the room to help him, and he was bed ridden. His mind began racing, wondering why he was being visited by his head supervisors from work, and why it had to be now.

"We heard about your heroics," Vega said, twirling a lock of his long blonde hair between claw-like nails.

"It was an honourable thing to do," Sagat added.

"Too bad it got you nowhere."

"Thank you for coming," Tai said humbly. "I wish I could have helped the girl."

"That really is too bad," Vega continued, until Sagat glared at him to stop talking.

"That's why we're here. You see, Dr. Feng, we can't have you putting yourself in danger like this. The work you do is very important. Even if you weren't able to save this one girl last night, if you complete your work, you will help to save countless other lives with it."

"That should make me feel better," Tai admitted, "but I did it in the heat of the moment. I could let them just take a defenceless girl without at least putting up a fight."

"As I said before," Sagat repeated, "we can't have you endangering yourself."

"I'm sorry …"

"Because it could cost you dearly." His words no longer sounded like someone who cared about his well being and was turning into what Tai could have sworn was a threat."

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't quite understand."

"We ordered the kidnapping of the girl, genius," Vega said, rolling his eyes as Sagat gave him another leer. This time, however, he ignored him. "For a head-scientist, you certainly are a little dumber than they come."

Tai was stunned by the claim, and struggled to verbalize his jumbled thoughts. "How did you … why would …"

"We need them, Doctor," Sagat said, "for a sister project being conducted alongside the Shadow Technology's research." Tai cringed as he heard the term being applied to his work. "We are here to tell you, to ORDER you, to cease your incessant meddling, and to focus on your task at hand. The girls are none of your concern."

The girls? Of course, Sagat was referring to not only the girl he'd tried to rescue, but Xiayu and Yanyu, his wife's favourite students back in China, who he'd help comfort during their time in the cells.

"Bison is well aware of your unauthorized interaction with the subjects of the Doll Program," Sagat continued. "And that's why I strongly urge you to follow our orders."

"Because at Shadowlaw," Vega added, "we don't just fire you." He lifted a lapel of his suit to reveal three long blades shining even in the dim fluorescent light of the hospital ward. "Do we have an understanding?" Tai couldn't speak, but nodded rapidly with fright.

Sagat and Vega smiled in approval at his reaction and headed back towards the door. Before exiting, Sagat turned around and said, "Rest well, Doctor," then unlocked it and let himself out of the room with Vega following one step behind. The nurse they had so rudely locked out before came rushing back in seconds later, berating Tai in Japanese, which he ignored partly because he didn't understand but mostly because there was nobody who could help him.

Tai did not rest well that night.


End file.
